Mo Salah and Sadio Mane’s partnership in the attack for the dominating Liverpool side that narrowly lost the league to Manchester City, and the conquering side that won the Champion League last season were so mesmerizing that situations and timing of COVID 19, has made everything blur that we even forgot the duration of time they operated in tandem of one another on the pitch.
Liverpool has lacked top-class wingers for many years, but with Salah and Mane on the flanks, things have really changed a whole lot for the red side of Merseyside since they were signed respectively.
Before the two Africans came in, the generation of Liverpool fans had seen a whole lot of players on both flanks come and gone, but Salah and Mane’s reign have really produced what the team lacked in the past on the flanks with blistering pace and good end product.
The likes of Raheem Sterling, Coutinho, and Maxi Rodriguez relatively did well during their reigns at Anfield, but we can categorically agree on the facts these two Africans have been so impressive since they joined. This current Liverpool attack is superior to the Luis Suarez-led force, with their abilities to both find the back of the net regularly and register assists, which has made them terrifying players for opponents to cope with.
If both African best footballers were told, they would both share the same dressing room at Anfield, when the Egyptian was at Chelsea and the Senegalese at Southampton, perhaps it’s may sound like a joke. Football, a sport where anything can happen, as such their partnership is one of a kind that is destined in heaven.
Perhaps to Jose Mourinho and few other Chelsea fans, Salah isn’t one of those players that would light up the Stamford Bridge with mesmerizing dribbles and mouthwatering goals, but to the majority of Chelsea fans, the club and fans that saw him tore apart defense at Basel, the club he served with style and skill still strongly believes in what he’s capable of doing.
Mane & Salah’s Partnership
The image of both players is completely at odds with how they currently performed to put teams to the sword on the pitch, with their ball movement, work-rate, unequal speed, and breathtaking goals.
Sentiment apart the duo have been so fruitful since they were snapped up in 2017 and 2016 from Roma and Southampton respectively, reasons why Jurgen Kloop loves them passionately for their positioning and trickery.
Jurgen Klopp’s likeness for Sadio Mane has gone way back when the Senegalese were still plying his trade at Salzburg, while the German tactician was at Borussia Dortmund.
Fortunately for Kloop, he got his man at Liverpool in 2016 for a transfer fee of £34 million on a five-year contract from a stubborn Southampton side, and the following year Salah was brought in from Roma following the Giallorossi’s second-place finish in the Seria A.
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During the course of their five years stay at Anfield together and still counting, Salah and Mane continue to deliver topnotch performances, with a very strong Liverpool side as they’re both expected to always deliver the goals even when injuries haven’t been fair on either player, but anytime they’re back on the pitch of play the Anfield fans usually look forward to enjoying a lot of ecstasy display from the African pairing.
When Liverpool faced Real Madrid in the 2018-19 season champions league final, the world was expecting something brilliant from the duo, having seen how their partnership has given birth to tons of goals.
Unfortunately, the dark art of Sergio Ramos’s wrestling on Salah made the night bitter for every Liverpool fans, even though Mane’s partner is injured and substituted he did contribute his quota on the night with a goal, perhaps if Salah wasn’t injured the duo may have achieved success together on the night.
If Sturridge partnership with Suarez was something the Anfield fans looks forward to witnessing in the league for their great chemistry, then the partnership of Mane and Salah is more of a sacred pairing with the result to show for their great chemistry and undiluted understanding both in the league and on the European scene which made champions league to tumbled into their trophy cabinet, shaping the genesis of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool success.
With the restart of the premier league, in a matter of few games, Jugen Kloop led side should be prepping up to be handed the league title in over 30 years since they last won it, as long as they win their matches, expecting their sublime partnership to start ticking again.
It is expected that their pairing perhaps would stretch on for many years to come and push them to achieve greater things.
Although the duo may have had a disagreement in the past when Mane made it clear that he was less than impressed with Salah’s selfish streak when substituted in a 3-0 win over Burnley during their Premier League trip to the Clarets, at Turf Moor, that doesn’t affect their partnership. As Mane himself cleared the air that his partner is an “Exceptional teammate, and it is a great pleasure to play beside him”
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A lot of theories have been proposed by some pundits, that the duo spat could continue, and could affect their cohesion and put them at odds once again, and since the ugly incident at the Turf Moor.
The duo continues to put teams to the sword with their goals and assist, although Liverpool may have been dumped out of the Champions League by Diego Simeone led side Atletico Madrid this season, but then they’re still very much on course to achieve success this season with the partnership of Mane and Salah.
The Premier League and the world of football have witnessed some prolific partnerships in the past, as it is well known that football is a team game, some players often play better and score more goals when they are playing alongside another world-class player.
Mane and Salah are the best goal-scoring wingers in the league and the pair shared the Golden Boot with Arsenal’s Aubameyang in the 2018-19 season.
With this season already coasting home, so next season puzzle for Kloop would be how well he can encourage the elegance partnership of the two Africans to once again lunch an assault on the league and perhaps the champion league.
For the fans to continue enjoying their aesthetic art of attacking football in the Premier League, and beyond the four walls of the league, in order to bring to fore again a potent partnership that was last seen during the reign of Suarez, Sturridge, and Gerard, Torres.
Perhaps the duo of Mane and Salah may pass the baton to another player next season, but till then let enjoy the partnership while it last, because for what we know football for, it can be very funny at times.
One of the duos might be snapped up by a new club, and the rest would be history, but before that would happen their union should be able to push and win some couple of titles for the Kop in the future, which would ink their names in the history book of Liverpool for life.
