Sadio Mané

[danperkins]

Starting to worry a bit about Sadio. I know it's been mentioned a few times over the past year about his form and a few people have tried to justify it with him scoring a few goals. He's got 9 Goals and a few assists in 25 games which on paper seems ok, maybe not great for such an attacking LFC side and a player of his abilities but on paper anyways it's not the worst. Watching him though is painful, his touch is all over the place, his burst of pace isn't the same, struggles to go by defenders and his finishing when he has any sort of time to think is woeful. I've always said Mane is at his best when he plays on instinct, the more time he has to think about things the worse the outcome usually is. Between him and Bobby (who has been off it for a few years now) I think i'd like to see us bringing in some more competition for those places. Jota was a brilliant signing and we are lucky he has been there to pick up some slack but another one like that would be lovely. If we can get the old Sadio back he's irreplaceable but it's been a while since we've seen him.

[Angryred]

Starting to worry a bit about Sadio. I know it's been mentioned a few times over the past year about his form and a few people have tried to justify it with him scoring a few goals. He's got 9 Goals and a few assists in 25 games which on paper seems ok, maybe not great for such an attacking LFC side and a player of his abilities but on paper anyways it's not the worst. Watching him though is painful, his touch is all over the place, his burst of pace isn't the same, struggles to go by defenders and his finishing when he has any sort of time to think is woeful. I've always said Mane is at his best when he plays on instinct, the more time he has to think about things the worse the outcome usually is. Between him and Bobby (who has been off it for a few years now) I think i'd like to see us bringing in some more competition for those places. Jota was a brilliant signing and we are lucky he has been there to pick up some slack but another one like that would be lovely. If we can get the old Sadio back he's irreplaceable but it's been a while since we've seen him.

Yep, I dare say that we will saying goodbye to him & Bobby next Summer

[Rich]

I think you're right to be worried. Seems to have traded bulking up a little bit for that instant acceleration we saw in the first 3 or 4 years at the club.

Regardless of the Salah contract situation I think we'll be looking for another forward player in the summer.

[Buzzo]

Starting to worry a bit about Sadio. I know it's been mentioned a few times over the past year about his form and a few people have tried to justify it with him scoring a few goals. He's got 9 Goals and a few assists in 25 games which on paper seems ok, maybe not great for such an attacking LFC side and a player of his abilities but on paper anyways it's not the worst. Watching him though is painful, his touch is all over the place, his burst of pace isn't the same, struggles to go by defenders and his finishing when he has any sort of time to think is woeful. I've always said Mane is at his best when he plays on instinct, the more time he has to think about things the worse the outcome usually is. Between him and Bobby (who has been off it for a few years now) I think i'd like to see us bringing in some more competition for those places. Jota was a brilliant signing and we are lucky he has been there to pick up some slack but another one like that would be lovely. If we can get the old Sadio back he's irreplaceable but it's been a while since we've seen him.

He is a proper conundrum, as you say, he is scoring goals. But in absolutely key moments - like Leicester he seems badly out of form. I also used to feel that he and Robbo were key to getting us going but that’s no longer the case.

His numbers and performances would be more than acceptable, in fact they’d be phenomenal at 95% of clubs. But to compete with City we do perhaps need someone either putting pressure on him or outright replacing him.

I’d definitely bench him vs Chelsea and start with Bobby, Mo and Jota.

City can bench a £100m new signing and rotate over Christmas that’s the level we are striving for.

[Mark79]

He is a proper conundrum, as you say, he is scoring goals. But in absolutely key moments - like Leicester he seems badly out of form. I also used to feel that he and Robbo were key to getting us going but that’s no longer the case.

His numbers and performances would be more than acceptable, in fact they’d be phenomenal at 95% of clubs. But to compete with City we do perhaps need someone either putting pressure on him or outright replacing him.

I’d definitely bench him vs Chelsea and start with Bobby, Mo and Jota.

City can bench a £100m new signing and rotate over Christmas that’s the level we are striving for.

He’s not though. 9 games without a goal now. Or an assist.

[Buzzo]

He’s not though. 9 games without a goal now. Or an assist.

Over the season though

Only 7 players in the League have scored more than him. Problem is when Mo has an off day we need Sadio to step up.

[Fredo]

Hope he scores a few at the AFCON and he comes back raring to go. It sometimes helps to have a break from a competition and into another.

[danperkins]

He is a proper conundrum, as you say, he is scoring goals. But in absolutely key moments - like Leicester he seems badly out of form. I also used to feel that he and Robbo were key to getting us going but that’s no longer the case.

His numbers and performances would be more than acceptable, in fact they’d be phenomenal at 95% of clubs. But to compete with City we do perhaps need someone either putting pressure on him or outright replacing him.

I’d definitely bench him vs Chelsea and start with Bobby, Mo and Jota.

City can bench a £100m new signing and rotate over Christmas that’s the level we are striving for.

This, what a combination they used to be, absolute relentless drive & a nightmare to defend against... a genuine world class left hand side Both have been out of sorts in fairness which has been quite evident. Robbo for me is him being over played and burnt out but Mane just looks way way off, everything about his game has deteriorated. A few years ago he was considered one of the best in the world.

Yeah it's really frustrating vs City, they literally strengthen every year. Money is no option and I do think they will go in for Kane again in January.

[Fivex]

Splitting hairs really but not sure he’ll make them any better.

[fabinho]

There's a problem with Sadio which splits opinions.

He's linked to our most successful season in the Premier League era and on that basis some fans view him as an crucial cog in the machine, so there's a reluctance to change. Regardless of form, he must be crucial because he was instrumental in our success. He's better than some of our fans realise because of the above, they just can't see it.

Then there's the opinion that he hasn't performed for pushing 18 months now, but he's still better than anything else out there. Again, this coincides with the above.

Personally, I think we need Sadio to hit his best very soon or I'm of the opinion he needs to be moved on whilst his stock is somewhat still high. We cannot carry him at 50%, and an "on it" Mane would have us at least within 3 points of City now, but that Mane has been missing for far too long. The same points can all be made at Firmino and Henderson.

For us to compete, we need our major players to be in form for most of the season and these guys aren't doing that. It's time to make some difficult decisions, I said that last year though as the writing was on the wall with all 3 then. It has to happen soon.

[Exiled_red]

I think we are in a difficult position if we are looking to replace him or move him on and that is his contract situation. He only has 18 months on his contract, if we wanted to move him on and get a fee we would have to do it this summer. Even then the fee wouldn't be that high as he'd be available on a free a year later. If we are going to offer him a new contract it will be on top wages so we will be unlikely to be keeping him as just a squad option.

Given that he is playing more or less every game I don't think we are necessarily looking to replace him in the short term at least, I could see us wanting to bring in a long term replacement and having some period of overlap / phase in/out but that could be difficult to work with given Mane's contract situation.

[Harv]

He's be woeful all season and was a complete shadow of his former self last season. It's not even the missed chances, he's always been patchy in front of goal as he has zero composure when given time to think about things. It's his passing, hesitancy and overall carelessness on the ball. He's becoming a liability IMO. He constantly ruins counter attacks by holding onto the ball too long or ****ing up a simple pass into space for Mo to run onto.

He's also 30 and his game is all about energy/pressing and power. He's losing those traits rapidly and is nowhere near good enough technically to make up for a loss of pace...see him trying to dribble around people now and just kicking the ball out for a goal kick. He pretty much does it at least once a game.

He needs to be moved on whilst his value is still high to onlookers. Our owners clearly don't spend money, so the only way to get good replacements is to sell high and buy quality young/underrated players with the proceeds.

This rings true for Firmino as well. He's never been a good finisher and his link up play and pressing were his strengths, but those qualities are almost non existent at times. He's a waste of a shirt a lot of the time. Injuries are also becoming an issue for him it seems.

I wonder if our system has just exhausted these guys. They've been running their guts out for 5/6 seasons now. Those two particularly have constantly lead the forward press and have barely missed games. They've been absolutely flogged. Its bound to catch up with the legs at some point and Klopp just doesn't seem to trust the bench as much. Minamino barely gets a game, Divock has barely played either and apart from Gordon we seem to have no young forwards waiting in the wings for their chance either.

[Norbs]

How do you rate Mane this season, Harv?

[SB]

I think we’ve had his best years & we should definitely be looking to upgrade him sooner rather than later. Minamino will get a few games to impress while the lads are away in Africa but I don’t see him as filling the wide left position the way we play. January is a notoriously hard time to deal with selling clubs but I feel we need to strengthen asap.

[Exiled_red]

I don't see us signing anyone significant in this window people keep saying about us signing players to cover for ACN, but since when has Klopp signed players and dropped them straight into the side with barely a training session with the side.

I would really hope that we are looking for new forwards for the long term but I don't think that it necessarily means any of the current first choice players are being moved on. The contract situation(s) however mean that things might not move at the rate we would ideally like, and I think that potentially has more of an impact on who and when we sign anyone than anything else.