RUNNING MAN!
As a kid he would run two miles to the game, do seven laps of the pitch and then play. Sadio the speedster is Liverpool’s . . .
‘Speed? Speed is the most difficult thing to deal with in football.’ — Jurgen Klopp, August 11, 2017 ‘Speed and stamina came naturally, like God’s gift’
SITTING behind a desk at Melwood, casually reclining in his chair, is the player who personifies the Liverpool manager’s vision of all-out attack.
And positioned in front of Sadio Mane is a magazine, the page open at one of his most spectacular pieces of work. In a series of photographs, his stunning goal at Arsenal 12 months ago is depicted and the Senegal flyer is ready to divulge the tricks of his trade.
‘I remember this game,’ Mane explains, smiling as he points at the frame. ‘I remember having this high energy when I got the ball on the wing. I saw the defender (Calum Chambers) coming to me so I tried to slow down. Why? I knew I could go quicker than him. No problem.
‘So when he thought I was slowing down, I let him come. Within one metre? That was it. I left him back. I stopped running a little bit and then (darts his hand) . . . I go! One metre for me to go quick, then he has no chance to stop me.’
Cue another smile. Mane explains how he bamboozled Chambers and got off to the perfect start after his £30million move from Southampton but he could refer to any number of defenders, such as Watford’s Younes Kaboul, whom he zipped past to score in last week’s 3-3 draw at Vicarage Road.
Mane is quickly becoming the poster boy for Klopp’s Liverpool, a point to stress given the saga surrounding Philippe Coutinho. From blistering gear changes to ruthlessness in front of goal, this is a young man with all the tools to fulfil his dreams.
Those dreams took flight in a village called Banbali, near the town of Sedhiou in the south of Senegal. Mane’s family, particularly his mother Satou Toure, wanted him to have a good education, but he grew up convinced he could make it as a footballer.
His gift, from an early age, was speed. His love was kicking a ball around the dusty streets of Banbali whenever he could. To prove that point, he tells a story about the lengths he used to go to attend training every Wednesday after school and on a Saturday morning.
The local pitch he played on was two miles away but Mane would run from his house, complete six or seven laps of the pitch before training started and then play a full game. He had stamina as well as pace, and this shows why he was able to win Liverpool’s beep test challenge this summer.
‘This is natural for me,’ says Mane, who idolised Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho in his youth. ‘It’s not something I needed to work at. It is something God gave me. When I was in school we would always have running races. I was good at it. Always sprinting. I can run long distance too.
‘I work in the gym, twice a week I do abdominals. It is very, very important. I do quick sessions as I don’t want to get big. I know my body, I know what is good for me. I have a chef who cooks for me, I like to eat healthy. I don’t drink, I’ve never tried it in my life. I’ve never smoked either.
‘This season I hold the record at the club! I always loved running, from when I was young. I never took a bag, I’d just carry my boots and run. There was never a bike. I’d get to the pitch and make six or seven laps and then get straight into it.
‘I would go and meet my team and we would usually win. I was always the striker. I always wanted to win and score goals and help my team, if it came from the left, right or through the middle, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to win. It is the same now.’
Mane is quiet by nature but he is
‘I had one week off this summer . . . and I took my doctor’
certainly convivial company, from the twinkle in his eye as he talks about the inspirational Senegal team from the 2002 World Cup in Japan to the sheepish chuckles that follow when El Hadji Diouf — a national icon but an Anfield villain — enters the conversation. ‘He was the first player I loved to watch and I remember the game against France when we won, leaving school to watch in my friend’s house,’ Mane says. ‘El Hadji is a hero at home, I still see him when I go back. Here (a hero)? Maybe not so much!’
This easy-going manner shows why the first words his team-mates use to describe him are ‘good lad’ but the 25-year- old also demonstrates why, for all the soft tones he uses, he is a key figure in the dressing room. Two stories illustrate as much: the first dates back to February this year. He had just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations at a time when Liverpool’s form had been shocking in the Premier League and they had been eliminated from two cup competitions.
In a quiet moment, he took Jordan Henderson aside and explained how he had watched every game while in Gabon and ‘didn’t recognise’ the Liverpool team he saw. Henderson promptly called a squad meeting after a wretched performance at Hull, the air was cleared and, the next week, Mane scored both goals as Tottenham were blitzed 2-0. It was a victory that propelled Liverpool into the top four and gave them the impetus to stay there.
The second story involves his crusade to overcome knee surgery, which was required after he was injured in the Merseyside derby on April 1. He worked relentlessly to get back to fitness and in his first full training session with the team in Germany last month, the fireworks he produced led observers to do double takes.
‘When you are a professional, you have to be ready for anything,’ says Mane. ‘Sometimes it is down, sometimes it is up. When I got the injury, it wasn’t easy for me. I wanted to be fit all season and help my team-mates.
‘I had to find a way I could recover quickly. Mum came to stay with me and that helped. Before pre- season, I had one week for holidays and I went back to Senegal but even then I went with the doctor.
‘I did three sessions with him, so really I have only had four days holiday! You can have holidays after. Nothing else matters.’
Statements such as those show why he has handled the scrutiny of life at Anfield so easily and why he has been able to embark on a journey that took him from Banbali to Metz, Salzburg and Southampton without any fuss.
So while summer may not have been kind so far to Liverpool, with transfer sagas and recurring defensive issues, nothing is flustering Mane and today against Crystal Palace, he will take the next quick step with his team on the road to self-improvement.
‘Honestly?’ he says when asked how good he feels he can become. ‘There is more. Much more. You can’t say when you are 25 years old that you know everything. You don’t. I can still learn. I know how far I want to go. So let’s see what we can achieve.’
Is he eyeing the African Player of the Year award?
‘I don’t think it is the one main aim for me. The main aim is to win trophies with this team. If I was to get it one day in the future, of course, that would be great. I’m just looking forward to the season. I think we can get stronger. And I know we can get better.’