Sadio Mane’s form has recently been shoved under a microscope by fans and pundits alike since the turn of the year, with many criticising his perceived wastefulness in front of goal.
One Reds fan took the opportunity to point out that such critique is somewhat harsh considering the forward’s reasonable goal return this season, comparing his contributions to that of former Anfield favourite Philippe Coutinho.
Sadio Mané is ridiculed for the chances he’s squandered this season, and rightfully so.
To compare standards, he’s on 20 g/a in all comps. Coutinho bettered that mark once in 5 seasons at Liverpool. It’s Mané‘s worst in a red shirt. He’s world class and he’ll find it again.
— El Mans (@el_mansfield) April 25, 2021
The Liverpool forward line has largely been kept afloat by the efforts of Mo Salah, with the Egyptian registering 29 goals in 46 appearances, only one effort behind the Premier League’s current leading top scorer Harry Kane.
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Criticism of the Senegalese – much the same for any Liverpool player who is underperforming – is, of course, welcomed… within reason.
As the Reds fan in question rightly pointed out, the former Southampton star has not been hugely clinical this term, though with 20 goal contributions across all competitions it’s hardly the most horrific of seasons.
A drop in confidence and, we’d imagine, a knock-on effect from the imbalanced team structure, following key injuries suffered in the heart of defence – not to mention to the likes of Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho also – have all played a part.
Any suggestion that we should be cutting our losses with the No.10 after one average (by his own ridiculous standards) season would then appear to be severely short-sighted.
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Totally not so… countinho played mostly offensive midfield whereas Mane is out and out attacker so there can be no comparison between their required numbers. Second, once you have a front three which includes Firmino who never was never will be a goal scorer the onus has always been on Mane and Salah to score a lot. Which brings us to the third leg of the stool.. Salah, yea, at least his numbers are respectable but he too isn’t a natural goal scorer, while he may have kept his overall numbers up he needs an inordinate amount of attempts for a class striker to achieve those numbers. Add to this the fact the Liverpool gets basically nothing goal threat wise from midfield it’s easy to see why we collapsed offensively..