Why Sadio Mane as important to Liverpool as Mohamed Salah
The superb Senegalese international Sadio Mané continued his fine form at the start of the season with his third goal in two games as Liverpool saw off Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in a dominant 2-0 win.
Liverpool have picked up from where they left off with two brilliant displays so far in the new season, and nobody has caught the eye quite as much as Sadio – and that’s not just because of the goals that he has scored so far.
That being said, his goal-scoring record is something else at the moment – 14 goals in his last 18 appearances for the Reds to date.
He offers far more than just goals, but is often cast in the shadow of Mo Salah as part of Liverpool’s dynamic attack. It also wouldn’t be fair to go any further without saying that Roberto Firmino can also be taken for granted a little, but it’s more so Sadio than the others.
Always provides an outlet
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LONDON, ENGLAND – Saturday, November 4, 2017: Liverpool’s Sadio Mane during the FA Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Liverpool FC at the London Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
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Like Salah, Mané is more than a willing runner for the team, both offensively and defensively. This is certainly one of the reasons that Klopp trusts and rates him so highly, as he is vital to the functioning of his system.
However, as demonstrated perfectly for his goal against Palace, Mané always provides a get-out ball for Liverpool when they need him most. In line with the title of this piece, it was perhaps appropriate that it was Mané alongside Salah leading the charge from the Palace corner that ending up in him rounding Wayne Hennessey to kill the game off.
It’s not just Salah that provides Liverpool with this release and this instant relief from opposition pressure. ManĂ©’s pace, intelligence and positioning when making these runs is rarely off and he plays as big a role as any in helping his team spring from defence to attack before you can blink.
Intelligent runs
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Wednesday, December 6, 2017: Liverpool’s Sadio Mane celebrates scoring the sixth goal during the UEFA Champions League Group E match between Liverpool FC and FC Spartak Moscow at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Speaking of intelligent runs, ManĂ© is making them all of the time. Watch his movement in the final third, it’s phenomenal.
It was highlighted by Danny Higginbotham in the commentary last night – ManĂ© timed his run to be up with Salah perfectly, but crucially he changed direction to run across the path of the last Palace defender before approaching Hennessey’s goal that made the chance for him.
He gave the defender no chance to make a tackle for risk of picking up the Eagles’ second red card of the game.
It’s not just that, though. That was a small aspect of his game.
When Firmino drops deep as we are so accustomed to seeing him do, ManĂ© drops inside the shoulder of his marker and looks for the diagonal runs across the back of the opponent’s defence: runs which Henderson, Milner, Keita and Wijnaldum have easily been able to pick out on a number of occasions already this season.
We often hear pundits raving about Salah’s movement, which is also impeccable, but ManĂ© deserves just as much credit.
Uses the ball very industriously
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND – Tuesday, January 30, 2018: Liverpool’s Sadio Mane sees his header saved during the FA Premier League match between Huddersfield Town FC and Liverpool FC at the John Smith’s Stadium. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
And when he’s on the ball as opposed to when he’s not, ManĂ© is just as good. There can be a common criticism of some wingers that they can often be wasteful and overly audacious when they have possession of the ball.
Not our Sadio.
Rarely do you see him waste the ball, be overly selfish, fire in poor crosses or play sloppy passes. He is industrious, creative and incisive in possession and keeps Liverpool moving and flowing forward seamlessly and can often drop deep to pick up the ball and link attack with defence.
Pops up with goals – particularly when Salah isn’t firing them in for fun
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 12: Sadio Mane of Liverpool celebrates after scoring in the Premier League match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield on August 12, 2018 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Getty Images)
Boy, has he started well this season on the goal-scoring front.
We dread to think of it, but if there was ever a time when Mo Salah stopped scoring, we can almost put our mortgages on Mané popping with a few vital goals.
His goals are a great mix of finishes too; screamers, tap-ins, solo efforts, flowing moves, explosive give-and-go triangles. He’s got it all.
ManĂ© contributed 10 goals and seven assists in the Premier League last term, and already looks set to match that contribution – if not better it.
The front three of Firmino, Mané and Salah scored 91 goals between them last season, and Mané played a huge part in that.
To suggest that he or Salah is more important than the other I think is unfair – that front three doesn’t work as soon as one of them is missing.
This for me, along with those aspects of ManĂ©’s game mentioned above, make him easily as valuable to Klopp and Liverpool as Mo Salah.
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