Sadio Mané

[SB]

I can't speak for others but I love the guy. He gave us some real quality way before Salah arrived and he kept it up for years.

That doesn't mean I can't give an accurate opinion of what my eyes are telling me. His touch is starting to get worrying as he ages which was bound to happen. Nothing lasts forever sadly.

Agree He’ll still score plenty of goals throughout the season as we create so many chances. He’s best suited on the left IMO & not centrally.

[BG1973]

**** off he was

He was absolutely ****e, his very first contribution to the game was underhitting a simple pass and putting us under pressure as the rest of the team had pushed up expecting him to execute the pass properly.

That proceeded to carry on the entire game until in a way only Mane can he pops up for two tap ins

Even the penalty he won was from having a **** first touch

I wouldn't mind if you offered some balance but you can't help yourself.

[Fredo]

That’s just a shower of **** mate . I’ve got no axe to grind with any of our players and all I said was he doesn’t have the vision or the touch to play there successfully in our team. Out wide where he’s got space is where he’s best suited IMO.

Cool, then maybe you should tell Klopp to start wearing glasses again.

[Fredo]

I don’t see him having a poor touch. I would say he is sloppy at times, because he’s always in movement and not looking at the ball, but looking around him. Bobby does the same at times in the position, likewise Jota. Even Mo used to lose the ball a lot on the wing, which he now rarely ever does because he’s worked on it.

[Buzzo]

You cant get to that level if you have a poor touch. You dont score 11 goals in the PL by Feb with a poor touch.

Sadio tries to use his first touch to create space and opportunity for himself, he has always done that. At times that can look like a heavy touch and that suggests defenders are wise to some of his play. Imagine if he took 2 or 3 touches to show off his close control?

And yes, at times he is sloppy but that is football and as an attacking player it is all risk vs reward.

Pretty much every other single forward from every other club out with ours would be delighted with Sadios stats this season, they would be career best. 11 goals from open play. There is room for improvement with him, and I suspect that will be driven by competition for the shirt.

The words '****e' and 'poor touch' get thrown about so often. We literally could not be in the positions we are in all competitions if this were true.

[Paul12]

Mo can be quite quiet, goal chances apart. Sadio mauls his defender from start to finish.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I don’t see him having a poor touch. I would say he is sloppy at times, because he’s always in movement and not looking at the ball, but looking around him. Bobby does the same at times in the position, likewise Jota. Even Mo used to lose the ball a lot on the wing, which he now rarely ever does because he’s worked on it.

I think it is all relative.

If we compare Mane to how his all round game was two, three or four seasons ago, then compared to that he has declined a bit imo.

If we compare him to Salah, then he will look less good.

But take Mane and just compare him to almost any other winger in the league and his output is such that 95% of them would love to be on the same level as him.


What I do know is that he can sometimes look less effective when watching a game and then suddenly he pops in a goal or two and becomes a game changer.

[Buzzo]

One of the absolute nightmares for opposition teams is exactly that. They have 5 forwards to consider now. All of them proper goal scoring threats. Not 5 goals per season guys but 15-20 and beyond.

Imagine thinking you have done well against Mane for 60 mins and then seeing Diaz warming up

Or vice versa.

[Doc_Piptorious]

One of the absolute nightmares for opposition teams is exactly that. They have 5 forwards to consider now. All of them proper goal scoring threats. Not 5 goals per season guys but 15-20 and beyond.

Imagine thinking you have done well against Mane for 60 mins and then seeing Diaz warming up

Or vice versa.

Not sure I would regard Bobby as being that sort of goal threat, but agree about the other four and what three of them have shown (Salah, Mane, and Jota) is that you can mark them out of a game or they can be having a quiet game and then they go and slot in a goal or two.


With any luck Diaz will have that quality as well.

Think with the four pacier guys, when we have three of them on at the same time they create space for the others as teams have to double up on at least one of them (usually Salah) so the other two get more room to do damage.

Fantastic options to have.

Now let's get our midfield strengthened (and maybe a RB to cover TAA, the RB at Ajax is available on a free in the summer) so we have similar quality in depth and we will be well stocked all over the team

[Buzzo]

Not sure I would regard Bobby as being that sort of goal threat, but agree about the other four and what three of them have shown (Salah, Mane, and Jota) is that you can mark them out of a game or they can be having a quiet game and then they go and slot in a goal or two.


With any luck Diaz will have that quality as well.

Think with the four pacier guys, when we have three of them on at the same time they create space for the others as teams have to double up on at least one of them (usually Salah) so the other two get more room to do damage.

Fantastic options to have.

Now let's get our midfield strengthened (and maybe a RB to cover TAA, the RB at Ajax is available on a free in the summer) so we have similar quality in depth and we will be well stocked all over the team

Yeah, I think what Bobby brings to the mix is a different set of problems for defenders to solve and frees up space for the others. Plus he will grab the odd goal or 2.

If we can keep all 5... Wow. Exciting times ahead for us.

We've scored 70 goals in the League and only 3 teams have conceded less than us and thats only by a goal or 2. I am not sure our midfield is in dire need of an overhaul.

[danperkins]

Mane is at his best when he plays on instinct, the more time he has to think imo the worse the outcome is. I don't think his passing or control is that great but his pace, power and incredible fitness are his main attributes. On his day he is unplayable though, he's not the same player he was a few seasons ago but he is putting up decent numbers to be fair to him.

Diaz & Jota are great competition for him. It will be interesting to see if Sadio finishes the season strong and what he will do come the end of the season. I always worry with Liverpool that when we buy someone... there is always a trade off coming down the line to balance the books. I'd hate to see him leave, even if Diaz and Jota are looking the business.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Yeah, I think what Bobby brings to the mix is a different set of problems for defenders to solve and frees up space for the others. Plus he will grab the odd goal or 2.

If we can keep all 5... Wow. Exciting times ahead for us.

We've scored 70 goals in the League and only 3 teams have conceded less than us and thats only by a goal or 2. I am not sure our midfield is in dire need of an overhaul.

I think we need to be getting in new blood in the middle. We are fine when everyone is fit, but we are prone to injuries in the middle plus we have a lot of guys in or past the 30 mark.

Would like to have the Henderson replacement in during the summer so that he has time to settle into the team whilst Henderson is still here, then transition Henderson to the Milner role as time goes.

We have seen how things suddenly look different up front with the bringing in of Jota and Diaz across a few transfer windows or how the bringing in of Konate bolstered our CB options.

Think we need something similar in the middle. Not a radical overhual but the bringing in of one or two players of the right quality that bring down the average age and expand of quality in depth.

In the past we always seemed to have a huge squad but not the quality in depth, so would be nice to see us trim the squad a little in terms of numbers but bring in more quality to replace the quantity.

Look at things the past few games, we have had both Bobby and Jota out injured and were still able to field Mane, Diaz and Salah.

We should be looking at our midfield and if we had two out from Thiago, Fab and Henderson it would be really nice to be able to field a midfield trio with less of a drop off than we currently can. Think even one midfielder (though my preference would be for two in if we trimmed three from he squad by selling/loaning) would make a huge difference to us there.

[Scratch]

I think we need to be getting in new blood in the middle.

Elliott, Carvalho (sp?) and Bellingham not enough for you?

NB: could possibly be wishful thinking on the Bellingham one, but I'm quietly confident we will get the lad from Fulham.

[Harv]

I wouldn't mind if you offered some balance but you can't help yourself.

I'll praise him when he plays well. Just like i do Hendo, who is equally as patchy and frustrating.

But Mane's overall performances have been trending down ever since we won the league. He still gives his all and runs teams ragged, but his skill level when its not an instinctive movement has become incredibly poor IMO. His pace is on the wane too. He rarely takes anyone on anymore, like he used to.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Elliott, Carvalho (sp?) and Bellingham not enough for you?

NB: could possibly be wishful thinking on the Bellingham one, but I'm quietly confident we will get the lad from Fulham.

The first two names would not be cover or a replacement for Henderson or Thiago (not that you are going to come close to a like for like for Thiago but Keita could do the anti press side of it).

Carvalho looks to be an Elliot type player at the moment from the very little I have seen of him so those two would be cover for the same slot.

Bellingham would make sense to me and be the sort of young player I meant, though Tchouameni would probably be my pick over Bellingham.