SALAH, MANÉ & FIRMINO
“They make it easy for me; we make it easier for each other,” Mohamed Salah told FFT with a beaming grin in 2018 when asked about his deadly link- up with Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino.
But you’d be forgiven for expecting a little friction at the start. Initially, the trio looked a little like three square pegs waiting for their manager to whittle them into shape – two didn’t have extensive experience in their designated position, after all. It was Salah’s remit to stretch defences, cut inside and fire in shots with his left foot; Mané, meanwhile, was shifted to an unfamiliar left- wing berth and tasked with rounding his game: drifting infield, creating opportunities and finishing them off himself.
It proved a masterstroke. The Senegalese speedster flourished there, relishing the link- up play and freedom that Jurgen Klopp allowed him, just as Firmino had done in an unfamiliar role up top a campaign earlier.
The Fab Three were greater than the sum of their parts. They shattered Manchester City’s unbeaten season in January 2018, each scoring in 10 second- half minutes as City’s defence crumpled against the red tide. They all netted against Pep Guardiola’s side in Europe that season too, before helping themselves against Roma in a 5- 2 thrashing.
It wasn’t just in their relentless net- busting pursuit that they became noteworthy – this was also Klopp’s first line of defence. Mané, Salah and Firmino set the template for the Premier League press; they never needed a playmaker because chances came from their constant closing down of defenders, sustaining pressure and sucking up space.
Before long, Liverpool’s front three was unbreakable. Salah scored 44 and assisted 14 more in his debut campaign across all competitions, as the Reds were beaten in the Champions League final; Mané scored 20 and assisted nine; Firmino 27 and 16. The exhilaration of their electric pace cooled into consistency across seasons two and three, as the trio soared into the stratosphere. They conquered Europe in 2019 as a cohesive counterpressing unit controlled games with swagger, then finally secured a long- awaited league title in 2020. Liverpool became the Inevitables, effectively securing their crown with half a season still to complete. Not even COVID- 19 could stop them.
“Imagine where I’d be if these boys would not play for me... wow!” Klopp chuckled after Salah notched the trio’s 250th Liverpool goal that July. He certainly wouldn’t be a man with that kind of grin...
THE FAB THREE WERE GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS, AND A RELENTLESS MACHINE