Why it’s crucial Sadio Mané returns to top form sooner rather than later

At the beginning of the season, Sadio Mané was arguably the best player in the Premier League.

He won the August Player of the Month award and looked set to be Liverpool’s most important attacker, even with Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Coutinho (at the time) around him.

However, following his red card against Manchester City and a minor injury, he struggled in the run up to Christmas – the least productive of the now dismantled Fab Four.

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SWANSEA, WALES – Monday, January 22, 2018: Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Swansea City’s Kyle Naughton during the FA Premier League match between Swansea City FC and Liverpool FC at the Liberty Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

For the first time since his move to Merseyside in 2016, there were murmurs of discontent from fans, but they have since quietened down as he found his form.

An excellent turn and finish at Turf Moor helped the Reds to a 2-1 victory on New Year’s Day and he notched one of the four goals that downed Manchester City earlier this month with a thunderous left-footer into the top corner.

Before the clash against Swansea City, Jürgen Klopp expressed his confidence in the Senegal forward to perform consistently at his highest level once more.

Despite his brilliant movement for his chance, his first touch let him down. He had his chances but none of them worked out for him. He still played well and has shown that he is on his way back to top form.

Despite Liverpool having now crashed out of the FA Cup, Sadio Mané will play an important part in both the Premier League and the Champions League this season and his top form is needed now more than ever.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Friday, December 22, 2017: Liverpool’s Sadio Mane during the FA Premier League match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

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So far this season Mané has scored 9 goals in 24 appearances, last season he scored 13 in 29 appearances having missed several games due to the African Cup of Nations in January.

He has just under half of the season remaining to match or beat his goals scored last season, however with competition from his fellow African, Mo Salah, it was argued that this was affecting his form. Mané confirmed this talk was nothing but nonsense when the two Reds travelled to Africa for the Player of the Year awards.

Klopp talked about Mané’s blunder in the Premier League Merseyside derby, when the Senegalese forward was guilty of squandering a clear chance to set up a teammate for a simple tap-in that would have doubled Liverpool’s lead after Salah’s opener.

The manager said that talking to Mané about his mistake and addressing that he was at fault for losing out on three points had helped him move on and that he is a ‘completely different’ player now – as we have seen.

We can only hope that Sadio continues and reaches the top form we are familiar with from last season and that he can help the team push for the much-needed silverware.

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Source: anfieldhq.com