Sadio Mané is being judged at Bayern Munich in the same way as Darwin Núñez at Liverpool, pervading a transfer myth which Jürgen Klopp will know is false.
When Sadio Mané left Liverpool last summer, it was an emotional farewell to a player who was at the very pinnacle of his game. Having led his nation to an AFCON title, and enjoyed an extremely prolific second half of the season, Mané was arguably Jürgen Klopp’s main man towards the latter stages of last season.
But in the end, every story must come to a conclusion, and the swift capture of Darwin Núñez underlined how football always moves on. To close Mané’s chapter on a high at Anfield was in a sense the perfect way to say farewell and bon voyage, on a route which has seen him travel to the European mainland and join Bayern Munich in the heart of Germany.
It was a move that was celebrated by Bayern Munich supporters, Mané may have been 29, but he was still very much perceived to be in the prime of his career and regarded as one of the best forwards in European football.
But fast forward a few months, and those perceptions are seemingly changing at Bayern.
Mané started his career brilliantly with the club but an injury derailed his progress and since his return he has struggled to come into the side. Recently SPORT1 wrote a scathing review of his performances of late, in which the Senegal star was heavily criticized and labelled a ‘problem child’ instead of a ‘superstar.’
In one passage the article even proceeds to flout a common Liverpool myth about Jürgen Klopp exhausting his players and running them into the ground, which is often used to explain why some players like Georginio Wijnaldum or Philippe Coutinho have struggled since leaving Liverpool.
‘Has Jürgen Klopp’s power football drained him? Possible! This could at least explain his poor exploitation of chances.’
But this is entirely false. If anything the aforementioned players have struggled only because their managers didn’t know how to get the best out of them, whereas Klopp is an expert at squeezing every tiny bit of quality from his players.
Nonetheless, when it comes to Mané, the quality at Bayern Munich is still there. His criticism is unfair, especially considering he has only recently come back from a prolonged three-month layoff due to surgery, and his 16 goal contributions in just under 20 lots of 90 minutes is also not a bad return at all.
If anything he is receiving a similar treatment in Germany to Liverpool’s Núñez, who has come under harsh and premature criticism often this season, despite the Uruguayan doing very well at Liverpool and his output being generally sound.
Likewise with Mané, 0.80 goal contributions per 90 minutes is an extremely high return for an attacker, and nothing to be complained about. Last season at Liverpool, he only averaged 0.65 goal contributions per 90. In this sense, he is on course for one of his best seasons ever in professional football — and he was always going to take some time to get back to full fitness after his injury (he has only played five games since coming back). With patience, he will prove the criticism wrong, just as Núñez has recently silenced his critics at Anfield.
