Jurgen Klopp has responded to the suggestion by Reds legend Jamie Carragher that Sadio Mane could be burnt out by the German because he is reluctant to leave him out of the side, saying it is nonsense.
Mane had no pre-season with his teammates at all as he was at the Africa Cup of Nations, but has come back into the team straight away and has been flying, netting twice against Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup final and again against his former club Southampton last weekend.
Writing for the Daily Telegraph, Carragher had said: “Mane has become so important that Klopp is reluctant to leave him out and let him have a rest.”
According to the Daily Mirror, Klopp responded by saying: “I would love to hear Jamie Carragher if I had left Sadio out.
“The punditry is a world class business – I have to think about if I don’t do that after my [management] career, because you can say whatever you want and you always put a finger in something.
“I think if I am 100 per cent right then Sadio doesn’t have to go away on international duty with his national team after Burnley which will help him, and then after that we have a full week to prepare the next opponent.”
Klopp has all the medical information available to him to make the right decision, so he knows the level of risk that there is to fielding Mane and will be able to make the right call each week.
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The upcoming international break will also hopefully give the winger a chance to rest, so he can continue his blistering form when that is over and the Premier League returns.
Ultimately, it comes back to the level of depth that Klopp has available to select from. Divock Origi is the only player who can cover for Mane over on the left side of the pitch, and while he is a decent player, there is a big drop off from the Senegalese’s level.