Why does Liverpool want Salah to Stay?

Sumber: Disini

The complete title for this article should read "Why Liverpool wants Salah to stay and not Mane", but in this day and age, this kind of title is not gonna work. Because first, people might be misinterpreted the intention behind said title, and secondly, that title is just too long. Anyway, as a lifelong Liverpool fan, at the end of the day, this great club still losing one of its legends in the modern game, while as of today, it is finally able to secure a signature from another legend.

I hope the very best for Mane on his journey with Bayern, and let's win another trophy MO!

If you are wondering, why did Liverpool tried so hard to secure Salah's signature, but just bow down on 42 million euros offer for Mane from Bayern?

In all encompassing range, both Salah and Mane are amazing player. They played their role flawlessly, scoring goals, making assists, and with the wonderful work of Roberto Firmino, they created the very first formidable trio of Liverpool, Firmino-Mane-Salah, the Liverpool resemblance of legendary Barca's MSN trio, With Messi, Suarez and Neymar. Even after the decline of said trio, both Mane and Salah still played on their respective highest level. So why did Liverpool prefer one from another?


Age

It is undeniable that age, and how old you are determined your game level. You can name quite a few football players that still going strong either on their intensity, speed or even overall football game as they grow older. Even players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi started to find it quite hard for themselves to keep up with the pace of the modern game. But disclaimer here, I am not going to stupidly suggest both are finished. They are still a high-caliber player, that could rival even the best generational talents from countries in South East Asia combined. But in the end, age, the older you are sometimes forces you to adapt, to change your style of play, and so on.

Liverpool had its fair share of old but reliable players in their rooster. James Milner for example is as old as time itself if you look at his football heritage. He played in almost every position but the simplified version is he did play as a winger in his younger days, but now, he is a squad player, capable of playing as a backup defender or at most midfield pivot. As we can see here, Milner played his part in Liverpool at his "old" age, so why Mane, in this case, cannot? While Salah can?

If you watch any Liverpool match, and for myself, Liverpool match equals a football match because I *only* watch a football match if it contained Liverpool on it. No seriously, I don't even watch euro, and just watch the world cup final, no, not even the final. I know this is not the equivalent of football fans, but I do watch most Liverpool matches in a season, so yeah.
Anyway, if you watch any Liverpool match, especially when Mane and Salah played together, both players possess a dangerous threat to the opposition with their blistering pace, dangerous play from the wing, and sometimes powerful shots, with right and left hands respectively. It is quite poetic actually because simply put, Mane and Salah completed each other with their game.

But in the end, it all comes down to pace and power. A textbook example of a player from Africa, with 2 strongest weapons. It is no wonder why, in their prime, both could even claim the golden boot together, and with the trio combined, scored hundreds of goals together. Sadly, with time passed, all sane human beings know that both pace and power will deteriorate. It will deteriorate.

As you grow older there is no question that your bodily function will not do the same things, as when you were younger. Some problems might occur, from increasing fatigue and muscle strain, unstable weight, and so on. There is a reason why older people had wrinkles and looked frail in comparison with younger people.

It could happen with Salah and Mane eventually, especially when they grow even older. This means, that both should adapt their play style to stay effective In the game regardless of their older age. But you will be surprised because both Mane and Salah are around the same age. Even Salah will turn 30 this year also. So why did Salah stay anyway?


The team

Before we address and discuss what I think is the most important matter that I think the Management of Liverpool FC sees in this problem, we should talk about Liverpool FC as a team right now. With the summer transfer window, Liverpool did bring some players to strengthen their squad. Calvin Ramsay from Aberdeen as a backup for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabio Carvalho, a young and promising winger from Fulham, and the big gun, Darwin Nunez, a young Uruguayan striker from SL Benfica.

It is 2 frontmen, and 1 backman for Liverpool, quite a strange one but it is reasonable actually. Either Ramsay or Carvalho is old enough to be regarded as a veteran player. They both are quite young, and never actually played in the champions league anyway. The one that is so hyped up, and looked after by Liverpool's opposition is Darwin Nunez.
He is a striker that shakes things up in the last year's champions league, and somehow by some people, is being compared to Haaland and Mbappe. No, I am not that delusional, but all in all, Nunez might offer something really interesting because if I am not wrong, this is the first Liverpool major signing in the striker department, since Andy Carrol.

So basically there is a new shiny signing, with high-profile capability in the striker department, and just before that in January, Liverpool just signed Luis Diaz, another winger on the left side from FC Porto. What that means is competition for the striking option, especially if we consider Diogo Jota, another summer signing, and Roberto Firmino. There are 6 Frontline options for Liverpool as of right now, with Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Salah, Mane, and Firmino, with another young player waiting in Elliot, Carvalho, Kaide Gordon, and dozens of others from the academy. You might call that amazing, but I just saw that as a diminishing chance for anyone involved.

Though it may sound terrible, at the end of the day, player like Origi that did so many clutch moments for Liverpool, especially that "Corner taken quickly" moment against Barcelona, or Minamino that become Liverpool's top scorer, both in FA Cup and Carabao Cup recently, they both must go. Either for personal reasons or just to have their contract run out. The same case can be made for any other player, even including Mane and Salah. Why? Both Origi and Minamino also played in the front-end of the field, with that kind of competition, it is no wonder that not many could survive.

We are talking about Mane and Salah here! Both were world-class African players that even considered Ballon d'Or contenders. No way they cannot survive that situation, right?


"What you can offer?"

If we are looking at players, and a football game as a process of making a dish, each player must become the right ingredients to make the best of the dish. The older or the younger they are, the expectation different. The difference they played in their respective position, also mean the different offers this player could make, and sadly both for Mane and Liverpool, the last season gave a "glimpse" about what could happen in the near future.

I am not saying that Mane is a bad player. No way! He is a very very good player, and I bet if he renewed his contract with Liverpool, there is still a huge chance that he could do something really impressive. But in the last season, there are so many ways or things that make Liverpool management think about something.

What Mane could offer is a threat. He can score goals, hold the ball, and make dangerous movements. A pure striker you might say, with the attributes of a decent one. But as I mentioned earlier, he just cannot operate as a winger as effectively as before. This is the reason why in his left-wing forward, his throne before, players like Diaz and even Jota could play there. He Is no longer the undisputed king on the left-wing for Liverpool. The only option for Mane is using his "decent" striker attributes, to rejuvenate "the Firmino role" or even become the pure striker, that we showed multiple times last season.

Is he good in that position? Well, regardless of the result, he played that role quite well. Needless to say, that is the role that he could play to sustain his career and he can hold on to that for years to come.

But Salah? Last season he just showed how different he is. With the most assists and the most goal in the premier league, he deserves both the golden boot together with Son Heung Min and snatched the best playmaker award from Trent Alexander-Arnold. He has the capability not only to score a goal but to produce one. You might think I am insane but the way Salah plays just reminds me of how Messi plays. No, I am not going to say Salah is better than Messi, that's just no way. But in Salah's case, he could be the Liverpool version of Messi. Creating chances, force maybe 2-3 defenders on him all the time, if the opponent loses the sign him a goal or assist is imminent. Simply put, Salah proves he could offer something that Mane might not be able to, and that something is very important for Liverpool going forward.

Is it predictable? For an experienced manager like Jurgen Klopp and his experienced coaching staff, yes. They might predict this since the Salah-Mane transfer saga started, or even further than that. Did this decision is good for Liverpool's future? No idea, only time could answer that. Some questions still arise about Sarah's wages, and how he will play in the future if we are looking at the number of his wages. But in the end, we still have to say a proper goodbye to Mane and hope that Salah and his teammates will deliver this season.

You'll Never Walk Alone

Muhammad Abdullah 'Azzam, M.M. 

Lulusan program Magister Manajemen Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta. Alumni penerima manfaat beasiswa baktinusa angkatan 6.

Email: skripsiazzam@gmail.com

Untuk tulisan lain, silahkan kunjungi pranala dibawah ini:

http://fellofello.blogspot.com/2022/04/pilihan.html?m=1

http://fellofello.blogspot.com/2022/02/africa-cup-of-nation-pembuktian-afrika.html?m=1



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