So longevity is more important than quality now? Luckily the club doesn't think like this. Give me the best player (that we can afford).
Mane's form, again
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If you read what I said in my post "Think both Felix and Bellingham are better than Raphina and Sarr"...
Where the age bit comes into it is when you look at teams like Real,Barca and a lot of the Italian clubs they have either held on to aging player for far to long and have not bought in younger up and coming players, or just kept buying players at thrir very peak, pay huge wages to them,who form then falls away rapidly. Or you get someone like Ronaldo who comes in and upsets the balance of the team...
We only have Jota at present that who has the quaility and age to take us forward. Mane, Firmno and Salah all in their 30's next summer and Mane looks to be on a downhill slope, and maybe Bobby too.
We should be look to take a offer of Mane and re-invest it. If it is only £40m and we need to add another £60m for a Felix, or Bellingham the so be it. £60m is easier to find than £100m
Never know we could get £100m for Mane from Real 🙂
While the pandemic continues, you'd have to be mad to believe FSG will spend anything on new players. And then, when it ends and COVID becomes endemic, you'd have to be mad to believe FSG will spend anything we don't make from player sales on new players.
They're cunts, lads.
They're cunts, lads.
It breaks my heart to type this but I think Mane might be a bit finished. He's been integral to our success under Klopp, genuinely world class for 3 or 4 years in my view, is clearly a very likeable and down to earth guy who does unbelievable charity work in his hometown, but I think he's struggling on the pitch now. He doesn't seem to have that rapid burst of pace anymore, I mean he's still quick but not as much as he once was and I'm wondering if he's struggling to process that and it's really putting him off his game. He's not as direct or devastating now. I dunno like, I hope I'm wrong but I think we've seen the best of Mane tbh. He'll always be a Liverpool legend in my eyes though.
I’m hoping any buying clubs feel the same as you.
Mane has not been the same since he had the Rona. Maybe he’s suffering from a case of long covid.
We really should be seriously looking at Luis Diaz as Mane’s heir though.
We really should be seriously looking at Luis Diaz as Mane’s heir though.
I wouldn’t consider selling him - I think Firmino is the one that we will need to replace.
Since Bobby's game doesn't really on pace but technique, stamina and acuity ... I wouldn't. Not yet at least. I think Bobby is a player that would be happy to be on the bench if he can't start and we can see the potential for his game to evolve into more of an advanced midfielder. I can see another 2-3 years at Anfield for him.
And the only reason I'd consider selling Mane at this moment (not that I think he should be an automatic starter any more, our fast full backs and Jota are IMO an improvement) is because he loses possession too often for my liking, many good moves crash upon those rocks. It's probably too late to cure that but as his pace deserts him maybe we could see that improving. However he's still a threat and a good player to bring off the bench - with something to prove.
We’ve missed out on two summers of serious activity for whatever reasons and that’s impacted our succession planning.
Mané needs replacing. His trajectory is only going down and so will his value. Firmino needs to go too. His injury record seems to be getting worse.
Had we been more active I think we’d have their replacements already but the market wasn’t right.
Jota and Salah need to stay and I wouldn’t be fussed to see Origi and Minamino leave with Mané and Firmino provided they are adequately replaced. I know that’ll never happen as it’s too drastic of a change.
Mané needs replacing. His trajectory is only going down and so will his value. Firmino needs to go too. His injury record seems to be getting worse.
Had we been more active I think we’d have their replacements already but the market wasn’t right.
Jota and Salah need to stay and I wouldn’t be fussed to see Origi and Minamino leave with Mané and Firmino provided they are adequately replaced. I know that’ll never happen as it’s too drastic of a change.
Great post Gary... You have put in to word what I could not....
He’s 38, what do you expect?
That’s over the top, mate. Have some respect.
BTW I finally watched the entire Spurs game yesterday (missed the first half live) and I thought Mane was by far the best out of the 3 forwards in that game. So I don’t agree with the argument that he has been awful overall in recent weeks - it’s just not happening for him in terms of finishing chances.
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An empty trash can would've been more useful than Mane today.
I agree it was his best in a long time. But still a shadow of his former self.
Repost from the match thread.
Mane is more than a concern now. Mark was having a pop a couple of weeks ago because I was calling it as it is - fact is the call was right. Mane has been shite for not weeks but months. He has the odd sublime moment but more often than not he loses us possession with his passing or his lack of technical skills and he's costing us goals.
He should probably have had a couple today, one was a near cert., add on Mo's double miss and Schmeichel's superb save - and we should have won this based on goal scoring opportunities. Frustrating.
Mane is more than a concern now. Mark was having a pop a couple of weeks ago because I was calling it as it is - fact is the call was right. Mane has been shite for not weeks but months. He has the odd sublime moment but more often than not he loses us possession with his passing or his lack of technical skills and he's costing us goals.
He should probably have had a couple today, one was a near cert., add on Mo's double miss and Schmeichel's superb save - and we should have won this based on goal scoring opportunities. Frustrating.
Isn't that what he's there for ? I've always said with Mane you have to take the good with the bad, the sublime with the ridiculous, because he isn't a player that drips control and overall technique but one that comes up with intermittent moments of magic. Add to that a clear dip in confidence and he's nowhere near pulling his weight (note I'm not advocating selling him) !
However it's what 9 games now without a goal? And yesterday's miss(es) came at a critical time for getting us back into the match. Score his 1 on 1 and I feel we'd likely go on to win. Mane has always come up with the goals, and some crackers, when we need them ... until the past two seasons.
Now it feels like it's only Mo & Diogo carrying the team. Mane only out-scored Jota by 3 goals last season ... but in 19 games more.
This season he's 3 goals behind him (Mane 25 games Jota 23) though he's not got an awful record, 9 in 25 games after yesterday, 7 in 19 in the PL isn't that terrible.
However both this season and last (Mane 16 goals Jota 13) it should be noted that Mane mostly played the full 90 whereas Jota was sometimes the sub coming on (24 starts for Mane this season vs Jota 18 starts). Hence this season Mane has a goal every 215 mins (1,935 mins) and Jota a goal every 136 mins (1,630 mins).
BTW Mane's goals per minute stat was even worse last season (1: 248 mins, Jota every 136 mins, identical to this) but previously Mane's goals per minute record in reverse chronological order was the epitome of consistency : 168, 166, 178 & 188 in 15/16.
What is just as telling is the number of assists, Mane has a single assist in 25 games (Jota 0 and Mo 8) which seems well off for him (6 last season).
There is very good reason for concern despite some people burying their heads in the sand. Of course there's lots of time to turn it around but that doesn't negate the fact that we are now far more likely to be well out of the PL title race, instead of well in it, by the time he does. Ah well there's still the CL.
Ah well... there’s always the League Cup.
I know it’s not popular... but we actually need to win it.
Can't get that Mane miss out of my head. So often when a striker misses a chance it's due to something preceding the final shot – a pass being underhit, a first touch that's a little off, a defender's desperate lunge disrupting the focus. But here Mane did everything perfectly, like an expert finisher that he is – cleanly controlled the pass into space, a touch a little to his right, taking the defender completely out of the game and forcing the GK to cover the far post, leaving the near corner undefended. Mane's finishing gets a bad rap, but he actually has these highly automated action sequences that are pretty much unstoppable – and here was one of them, perfectly executed at top speed – until just at the very last moment he hit the ball too hard or got too much underneath. Ughhhhh... It's a kind of chance you think about at night after the game and can't believe you missed.
Ha ha, it's as if you've been in that situation carving through the tightly packed defence at lightning speed to score the crucial goal in front of a packed ground and millions on TV worldwide yourself Rurik... 😛
Reminded me of Origi Vs Burnley last season. So desperate to score, he overthought it and thus overhit it
Origi never overthinks. Burnley was too small, too inconsequential of an opponent and occasion for him to bother with scoring. He needs an iconic moment worthy of his presence to score. It is our job as fans and the rest of the team's job to deliver those moments for him and then he will score.
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