Sadio Mane missed a big chance against Leicester City and marked his ninth match without a goal or assist, which has lead some fans to call for him to be dropped.
Our No.10 received a lot of negativity online after his decisive miss at the King Power Stadium, a chance (if it was taken) that would have put Jurgen Klopp’s team one goal up.
The Senegalese forward has had a difficult period, in terms of goal contributions, and this combined with a poor result meant he received a tough time last night.
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Here’s a selection of some fan reaction to his performance:
Mané has to get dropped Sunday, surely? Tell him to go AFCON early, so fucking hard to watch #LEILIV #LFC #YNWA
— Sayif Ahmed (@sayif_a8) December 28, 2021
Honest opinion, Mane needs dropped for a few games #LFC
— Stephen (@IrishKopite94) December 28, 2021
Been saying it for a couple of weeks now but Mane needs rested, his first touch is a tackle
— Daz (@dazzaM76) December 28, 2021
Don’t buy for a second Mane is finished but was curious to see what his stats in this period of the season are like because it’s always felt like he’s underperforming in December & January. Almost every year since he came to England there’s been a big drop in output at this time.
— Dan (@Dan23_92) December 29, 2021
There’s always a scapegoat following a defeat and it does appear as though the 29-year-old has taken the brunt of the negative fan reaction.
It is telling that his contract negations have been nowhere near as highly scrutinized as Mo Salah’s, despite the duo being the same age and playing a similar role in our team.
At the same time though, he is the joint 8th top scorer in the league (in a front three that contains the top two finishers) and our manager has stayed very loyal to his services.
If he’s good enough for the German and has proven to us all so many times that he is the man for the job, let’s cut him some slack.
One more game against Chelsea and then a break for AFCON means that he will be getting a rest from our side and should be able to return fired up for some big performances in the second half of the season.