When Sadio Mane scored the game winning goal in the Merseyside Derby on December 20th Liverpool were riding high.
It all seems like ancient history now, that period before Mane joined up with the Senegal National Team for the African Nations Cup.
Without Mane, LFC have been a shell of what they once were.
It was known that he would be gone until at least Jan. 23, when Senegal complete the group stages. They were expected to reach the knockout round, which would take his international duty for an extended period of time.
Saturday saw Sadio Mane miss his penalty in an ANC quarterfinal shootout against Cameroon, which led to Senegal’s exit from the tournament. He’ll now be back with Liverpool when they take on league leaders Chelsea Tuesday night.
“It will not be easy for me to go with Senegal next month,” Mane said as he departed.
“I would love to carry on playing with my teammates and help my team, but I think they will understand because it is my country and it is my dream.”
“I will be wishing them good luck but without me the team will be the same. Even better I think. They will cope. (Philippe) Coutinho will come back. (Joel) Matip will come back and (Daniel) Sturridge is back now.”
“I am very happy for him [Sturridge]. It has not been easy for him being out, he has had a lot of injuries, but you know he can deliver important performances for the team. That is why the team will be strong [while I am away].”
Whoah. Talk about the vote of confidence becoming “the dreaded vote of confidence.”
Mane, the team’s leading scorer this season, missed a lot of big, important matches, like the heated rivalry with Manchester United on the 15th, and both legs of the League Cup semifinal against his former club Southampton (his team is now eliminated from the EFL Cup)
He also missed the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup (Liverpool were eliminated from that competition Saturday.
Liverpool are in total free fall right now, having won just a single game in their last eight. Jurgen Klopp took ownership of that, but he has a monumental task ahead of him right now. Chelsea is next and they have won 16 of their last 18.
As for Sturridge, his form has been awful, and he was called on the carpet by club legend Jamie Garragher.
Regarding Coutinho, he seems like he’s really only at 75% right now. Thus, pretty much all of the Sadio Mane prognostications didn’t really work out.
Well, hey, it can only get better from here, right?
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, Bold and the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication, appears regularly as a guest on CGTN America, WGN CLTV News and KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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