Klopp hails ‘wonderful’ main man Mane for raising the bar
IT is a measure of Sadio Mane’s importance to Liverpool that when a question was asked about the Senegalese forward’s contribution last season, Jurgen Klopp’s appreciation of time was a little bit off.
“The biggest thing the team did last year was getting fourth without Sadio for pretty much half a year,” Klopp responded before correcting himself to some extent. “I wasn’t sure how long it was exactly but it was long.”
Mane was unavailable to Klopp for six weeks in January and the beginning of February because of duty at the African Cup of Nations – a period where Liverpool’s title hopes withered and domestic cups were exited in somewhat embarrassing circumstances.
It is unlikely Klopp would ever admit Mane is his most important player because his focus is a collective one but in light of Philippe Coutinho’s continued absence through a mysterious back injury during a period where Barcelona are pushing hard to sign him, Klopp’s subsequent comments about Mane’s abilities acted as a reminder, perhaps, of what he expects from his squad.
“He’s made a big step but as you can imagine I’m not too happy about singing the big song about a player that early in the season,” he said.
“But he is important, everybody can see now he can change a game, that’s cool. Sadio can learn so much still, that’s really good.”
Klopp could laugh when it was suggested to him that Barcelona might want to sign Mane,
proceeding to give a little more insight into the characteristics of someone who had just earned Liverpool the points in a narrow victory over Crystal Palace.
“He’s a wonderful guy, really humble,” Klopp said of Mane. “He loves football, nothing bad in him, he’s the kind of player who has contact with everybody. Not (in) a group here, or a group there. He likes all the boys but he’s also really skilled in being alone, by himself and close to his family.”
There is a growing feeling amongst Liverpool supporters that losing Mane would be felt harder than Coutinho but to some degree, Mane needs Coutinho to function at his very best.
It had been Klopp’s plan to play Coutinho in a central role this season, where his responsibility would be to start moves rather than finish them – the speediness of thought releasing Liverpool’s quick forward line before opposition defences have settled. In a month’s time, this might happen because Klopp and Liverpool’s stance on Coutinho has not changed and Barcelona, meanwhile, are now acting desperately and do not appear to be in control of the affair.
If one player is to leave Anfield this month, it is likely to be Mamadou Sakho. Yet, if he is to return to Palace, where he spent a successful loan spell last season, Liverpool will have to lower their price.
Frank de Boer, the Palace manager, said that Sakho would be a “quality injection for the club,” but warned the £30 million (€33m) asking price was “too expensive”. (© Daily Telegraph, London)