Sadio Mané: “Still A Threat”

Jürgen Klopp is not worried at all about the drop in production from Liverpool’s number nineteen.

Sadio Mané is an incredible football player and he makes a difference in this Liverpool side. Some of the goals he has scored have come from absolutely outstanding moments of physical superiority. He’s strong, he’s quick and he’s agile. And when he’s feeling his mojo, Sadio has been rock solid in front of goal.

But you’d have to be silly not to notice that Sadio has been off the boil recently. His goal tally has not been that impressive. He has a tendency to linger on the ball for too long, resulting in turnovers. And his understanding of his teammates positions and movements in the final third has been lackluster.

There doesn’t have to be a simple explanation for why players find themselves in a run of bad form. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with Mané. He still runs a lot and tracks back and presses the opposition for the ball. He’s doing all things but something’s just off. Jürgen Klopp gives some perspective.

“I don’t think too much about it, to be honest,” said Klopp. “Because even if Sadio is not at his best he is still a threat for the other team.

“He probably had the two biggest chances in Huddersfield. He didn’t score, no problem. When you win 3-0 that’s absolutely no problem. But you need to keep on going. That’s how it is.

“I realize good moments of the players or fantastic moments of players or average moments of players but it’s not that you can change it immediately, you have to go through.

“You have to build on the good things and to work on the not so good things. Sadio on an average day is still a fantastic player and that’s the good news.”

Klopp sees a team that is growing together, so there are bound to be games and moments where players are out of sync and off the rhythm. He also made mention of Mané and Salah being best friends which is the real news you want during these press conferences.

“He can play better, we all know,” Klopp said of Sadio. “So, let’s work on it.”

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com