Mane is Reds’ main man
The new Liverpool winger has made a great start to the new English season
SUCH IS the impact Sadio Mane, has made on Liverpool that the 24-year-old is an automatic pick to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League tomorrow while experienced international teammates scrap it out to play alongside him.
With the 24-year-old Senegalese on the right flank, Liverpool look a potent attacking force but without him they offer a much paler threat and were uninspiring in his absence in last week’s 2-0 defeat at promoted Burnley.
That result doused the optimism flowing from their opening 4-3 win at Arsenal in which he pr o d uced an early c ontender for goal of the season.
Juergen Klopp’s side return to north London tomorrow after the fit-again Mane inspired their 5-0 League Cup win over Burton Albion on Tuesday.
One particular moment of sorcery, when he jinked past a bewildered fullback to set up Divock Origi’s opener, showed why he is inked on to the teamsheet.
The last Liverpool signing to make anything like that immediate impact was Luis Suarez, who hit the ground running, and scoring, in 2011.
The Uruguayan formed a deadly partnership with Daniel Sturridge, but the English striker is no longer a guaranteed starter and Klopp must probably select one from Sturridge, Roberto Firmino and Origi as Mane’s partner at White Hart Lane.
With Philippe Coutinho certain to return, Klopp is juggling formations as well as personnel in search of the line-up to bury Liverpool’s reputation as the league’s most inconsistent performers.
That charge could never be levelled against a Jose Mourinho side and the Portuguese takes Manchester United to Hull City with both teams having won their opening two games. Even Hull’s most loyal supporters would not have predicted such a start, many fearing early humiliation after a t urbulent summer in which their manager Steve Bruce left and Mike Phelan took over in a caretaker capacity. But Phelan learned how not to panic in his five years as United assistant manager under Alex Ferguson and a win against his former club would probably seal him a permanent deal as a takeover by a group of Chinese investors appears to be nearing completion.
Chelsea and Manchester City are the other unbeaten teams and both are well capable of extending that record at home to Burnley and West Ham United, respectively.
Chelsea’s Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi will hope his double in the 3-2 League Cup win over Bristol Rovers will secure him a starting spot.
And so we went. And so we waited. The sports minister was nowhere to be seen. And so I stopped waiting and left.
I headed across the Thames to an Australian pub to watch the Springboks play the Wallabies. They lost. I called a colleague and asked if the minister had arrived.
Yes, said the colleague. And, coincidentally, he arrived just after the Test had finished. He was smiling a lot.
The minister was in full flow, fire and glory and thanking the Paralympians for, er, “walking tall”. He then announced the Paralympian medallists would receive the same amount in bonuses as the Olympic medallists.
Those in the Sascoc board seats winced and grimaced. Where would the money come from? Gideon Sam said they would find it.
“My chief executive officer, Mr Tubby Reddy WHILE JOURNALISTS swamped Jeremy Brockie, Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Morgan Gould at SuperSport United’s awards ceremony last Thursday, Mondli Mpoto walked freely at The Venue clutching his Young Player of the Season gong. He joked that some of the people in the room probably don’t even know his name.
That wasn’t far-fetched because when you’re a fifth choice goalkeeper – behind the ever-present Ronwen Williams, new signing Reyaad Pieterse, Boalefa Pule who has played only 10 minutes in five years with Matsatsantsa a Pitori and Dumisani Msibi – it takes some doing for people to notice you. But that doesn’t faze Mpoto. He knows his time will come, even extending his stay with the club despite the strong competition.
SuperSport’s chief executive Stan Matthews predicts that Mpoto will one day be Bafana Bafana’s No 1. He is on the right path to achieving that. While he hasn’t played for United’s first team, he was the first choice of the national Under-17 team in the World Cup in Chile. He has kept that position at Under-20 level where he has helped the side qualify for next year’s African Youth Championship (AYC) in Zambia.
“My dream is to play in every World Cup with all the national teams,” Mpoto said. “I have done that with the Under-17s. I will do that with the Under-20s. Doing it with Bafana Bafana will come next. I know that I might not get game time at SuperSport. So when I go to the national team, I should work harder to play regularly there. It keeps me sharp but it’s also a good way for me to remain in the eyes of the first team coach who can see what I have to offer.”
Mpoto is cheerful and animated once you get to know him. When he doesn’t know you, he is shy and soft-spoken. But he is always respectful and confident. He towers over most people with a body built for goalkeeping. That frame saw him play with older players at an early age in the ama- and the DG of Sport Mr Alex Moemi back in South Africa, will find the money somewhere,” said Sam in a statement just before they left London. “And again, we will plan better and better ahead of 2016.”
They would start the planning for 2016 when they got home. They needed to sort out the channels so athletes would win more medals in Rio.
“Deputy Minister Mr Gert Oosthuizen agreed with Sam. We have to find more resources in a challenging time but simply throwing money at it doesn’t help,” continued the statement.
On Tuesday, they threw money at the athletes who won. Those who lost, who didn’t bring home a medal, well, you know, South Africa can’t just throw money at the problem.
Like, say, the Lotto throwing R70-million at teur team from Umlazi, Barsenal, where he was teammates with Bidvest Wits’ Phumlani Ntshangase.
“It made me grow up quickly because no-one said I was young when I made a mistake,” Mpoto said. “I had to account for it. The only time they mentioned my age was when I did something well. There was no special treatment. That helped me in my decision making.”
Mpoto says that the decision to stay at Matsatsantsa is easy the problem Sascoc had when their coffers were a little iffy before the Games. It was good news for the athletes, said Sam, but also for the Sascoc officials.
“We were beginning to panic, let me now reveal the truth – and I am happy now that we can go to Rio, there was a doubt as to whether any of these board members would be going to Rio.” Great news.
What would the Games be without board members there?
Money for sports is easy come, easy go for some. “Today when I woke up I was so happy‚ I decided to increase (the prize money‚” said Mbalula on Tuesday. “Razzmatazz‚ Mr Christmas is here.”
Just one question: Where was all this money hiding for the last four years when the athletes needed it to prepare? It’s a lot too late for others. SAFE HANDS: Mondli Mpoto might be fifth in line at SuperSport, but he is No 1 at national level with Amajita and his talent is sure to see him keep goal for Bafana Bafana some day. because that’s the club his dearly departed father wanted him to play for. But his father didn’t get a chance to see that happen because Mpoto joined their academy in 2012, a year after his old man’s death. It means a great deal for the youngster to don the blue and white and also to provide for his family, as the oldest boy. Apart from being driven to take good care of his family, the club’sgoalkeeper coach Andre Arendse makes it easy for him to wake up to training every morning even though he is way down the perking order.
“I am excited every day when I go to training,” Mpoto said. “He understands me as a person and then as a goalkeeper. He is doing a lot for my game. I don’t have much memory of him as a player. I was too young when he was at his peak. I have heard people praising him. But now that he is in front of me, I see why he is so respected. If I can achieve half of what he has done, I would be a success.”
When he does that, everyone will know him.