Think he started well. Was involved. Tried things. Finishing was crap just like our other forwards.
Second half 
And when moved to the right hand side he was completely lost.
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This is a horrendous take. Mane has been awful all season and steadily getting worse and worse if you look at the season in series of games. There’s no guarantee that decline will be arrested. Trent was misunderstood. He went through a period where his natural attacking game was stunted and he was more disciplined helping the team out due to our frailties. Because he wasn’t having so many match of the day moments or assists (partly due to the awful form of those that should have been scoring) he was considered “out of form” when that’s highly debatable. Before and after that patch though he was definitely dominant and the best RB in the league again.
Mane’s form deteriorated when he got Covid. Before that he was fine. I’m not that keen to bin off a player who has been brilliant for us, because of form struggles. I don’t understand why the response to form issues is always sell him and get someone else in. I’m glad we have professionals running the club
As someone said above, the analytics people will know when the right time to move him on is. I would not be so keen to move on a consistent performer unless I was certain it was something more than form and confidence.
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No that’s just when it was noticed. He hit a high a season or two ago. Since then every 3rd or quarter of a season has been a little less effective than the last. That has sped up a little more this season but we are miles away from where people were arguing he was the better player than Salah.
I know you like Salah, but that doesn’t mean you have to put the boot into Mane. It’s not Oasis v Blur.
Anyway I disagree. He fell off a cliff when he got Covid. Before that he was OK. The grass isn’t always greener, and moving on a world class, proven performer like Mane isn’t something you do lightly.
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Someone just give him proper boots. Can’t remember a game where he hasn’t slipped at the crucial moment. #NewBootsForSadio
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Selling Mane would be fuckign ridiculous
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This is completely misrepresenting me. Do I think Salah is better? Yes. Do I still think Mane has performed at world class levels for us? Yes. Do I think if one of them needs to leave it should be Mane? Yes. Would I be happy if we were able to keep both and do what we need with the squad? Yes.
But Mane has been declining. Its sticking your head in the sand to deny it. He still works hard and runs his arse off, he’s still a top player.
In 2018/19 his first half of the season he scored 7 in 17. Second half of season he hit his world class level with 15 goals in 19.
In 2019/20 he dropped down to still good but no longer spectacular 9 in 18 first half then 9 in 17 second half.
This season has continued that trajectory its nothing new.
First 10 league games he had 4 goals, next 10 he scored another 3, last 8 games he’s scored none so far but if he got a couple of goals in next two games it would be in line with what’s happening.
He offers more than just goals but the goals on top of his other work was what made him world class. They’ve been decreasing since his golden boot. It’s not just the Covid.
We didn’t play well with the so much wanted 4 forwards when we flipped to it from around minute 60. We lost something and Real gained something extra when we changed it.
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So what you are saying is that during his time here he has consistently scored 1 in 2 off the wing, except a purple patch half season in 18/19, after which he reverted to his normal 1 in 2 level. He then struggled with form in the second half of this season, which also coincides with him recovering from Covid and being overused due to injuries.
And you wonder why people get frustrated with you…
In short he has dropped off this year, no-one would deny that. But suggesting he’s been on the decline for longer than that is nonsense. And that’s going on your own numbers.
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Everyone seems to focus on stats, and not on the fact that Mane is a human being, living in the same fucked up Covid situation as the rest. If we want to be successful next season, binning off players this season, without a superstar coming in, seems mad to me.
Also, Mane needs to cancel is sponsorship with New Balance, and get all his boots in the bin - he slips at least twice a game, where he shouldn’t be.
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And no wonder people get frustrated with you and your strawmanning.
Mane built up to a World Class winger culminating in a half season where he scored 15 goals in 19 games driving himself into a shared golden boot. World class Mane achieved.
Since then he has DECLINED to a top class player last season before DECLINING further to just a good player who still scored, then a good player who never seems to score.
Maybe it’s the choice of word you don’t like? But he has declined/regressed from the peak he achieved, its been linear and continuous. That’s what a decline means. Whether he can still arrest that and achieve those levels again is conjecture and open to debate. But pretending we had a player who was continuously maintaining a world class level with no problem, picked up covid and came back a shadow of his former self is dishonest and hiding what may be a potential problem.
You are aware that you can’t determine how well a player has performed solely by the number of goals he has scored, right?
Up until the opening months of this season, Mane was operating at an extremely high level. His goal output flactuated upwards or downwards but his overall play was world class. It’s absurd to suggest that he’s been declining since 2019.
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Add to that, every team we face now have changed their own tactics to attempt to nullify us. No player can score the same number of goals against a low block double decker set up as they could with a team attacking.
A bit like playing a computer game, you learn how to get through over time and pass the levels. After hammeing al the dross year in year out for 3-4 seasons, they changed tactics. Klopp saw that happening and bought in Thiago and Jota to change things up a bit, and it looked the right move - until the plauge of injuries hit.
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What about Salah’s decline. 44 goals in his first season, then ‘only’ 27, 23 the following two. Maybe we should have sold him?
Or maybe it’s fairer to be grateful we have a reliable, class 20+ Goal scorer, and accept that first season was a freak rather than get on the players back about not being able to repeat it.
The problem here is that you are looking at a very limited data set (goals alone shouldn’t be the barometer of a wide player like Sadio) and refusing to consider the externalities that affect it.
It’s not fair to suggest that a golden few months in which everything Sadio kicked hit the back of the net is the level at which we should judge his form from. He is fairly consistently around a 1 in 2 goalscorer for us, albeit a bit of a streaky one.
His goal scoring form this season has been really concerning, and that was summed up in the one on one he missed in the closing moments against Villa. But as I’ve said before, I don’t think this season is the one to form snap judgements on players having difficulties with form.
I can see that you want to find a trend to support your view that his form is more than a temporary drop off. But honestly, it’s not in the stuff you posted. If the club’s analytics teams, who look at this stuff in detail and sophistication that we can’t even relate to, think there’s an issue, then we’ll look to move him on.
No Balance, more like.
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Especially with Mane who offers so much more.
One of Mane’s best games for us was Arsenal at home this year. He got just the 1 goal and no assists but his overall performance was incredible, one of the best off the ball performances you’ll see and a major reason why we were so comfortable for the majority of that game.
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Just because I’m trying not to be misunderstood!
With his age approaching 30, we cannot tell whether he is declining or he is just out of form. It is a fact that at his age, most players begin to decline.
Solution: looking for a younger replace, preferably under 25.
Solution: give him a proper end of the season rest and see how he turns up in the next one.
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