Sadio Mane’s absence exaggerates the shortcoming of Liverpool’s summer transfer window.
The Senegalese midfielder suffered a left hamstring tear while on the international duty, which will keep him out of action for the next six weeks.
Experience tells Liverpool fans to have every reason in the world to worry about Mane’s absence. The winger was missed when he had to leave Melwood to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year. The Kops were unable to cope without their main man, failing to win every Premier League matches during that period.
Jurgen Klopp was criticized for failing to fill the Senegalese’s void. A summer transfer window later and the German celebrated his two-year anniversary at the club the past week, though his poor performance in the transfer window makes it seems as if everything has gone back to square one before his takeover.
Brendan Rodgers left Liverpool with a squad that needs a major overhaul. Its leaky defence was exploited long before the 2014-15 campaign when the Kops fell two points shy of the title. Meanwhile, Liverpool is still looking for a striker who is capable of scoring 20 or more goals after Luis Suarez’s departure.
Kloop was expected to build on a successful campaign after the team crawled back to the European picture. Money was expected to be spent to fix the occurring holes. However, at the end of the transfer window, the Kops fell short, again.
Mohamed Salah was billed as the marquee signing of the summer and he has done well so far. The rest of the arrivals have not. Dominic Solanke doesn’t have any better options after his contract with Chelsea expired. Andrew Robertson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are still struggling for playing time. Most importantly, there weren’t any updates in the leaky defence.
Liverpool’s terrible transfer window contributes to its modest form recently. Losing Manchester City 5-0 wasn’t the end of the world considering Mane’s harsh ejection in the first half. Drawing against Sevilla and Burnley, where the team dominated but somehow failed to get the victory, could be chuckled as “one of those days.” Dropping points against Newcastle, Spartak Moscow? Houston, we have a problem.
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The defence always the ones to blame for the Reds:
The defence was the one to blame, though everyone can see it coming. The attackers were expected to make up for those cheaply conceded goals, but they couldn’t convert having created tons of chances.
It’s easy to blame the trio Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino for those missed opportunities, but they aren’t strikers by trade. All of them have never broken the 20-goal barrier in their career. Salah is known as one of the most wasteful attackers. Mane is the pacey winger rather than a clinical finisher. Firmino’s best position is an attacking midfielder. The return of Philippe Coutinho hasn’t made many impacts, for the Brazilian’s heavy reliance on trying his luck from outside of the box.
Liverpool relies on the quick combination to the half-spaces to spread out the opposing defence. The full-backs are encouraged to overlap to deliver crosses from deep, hence the huge gap whenever the team suffers from counter-attacking situations. It is difficult to convert those chances without a target man who is capable of winning the aerial battle. Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City have those kinds of players that Liverpool doesn’t.
Long gone are the clinical Daniel Sturridge whose injuries has hampered his career. Mane’s absence is another blow for a Liverpool team who is struggling to find the opposing net. Sturridge and Oxlade- Chamberlain are expected to step up, though it’s hard to expect them to cover the Senegalese’s absence.
Sergio Aguero suffered a broken rib, but Gabriel Jesus provided the second option. Chelsea survived the first month of the season without half of its roster. Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini had done well covering the absence of Paul Pogba. Manchester City, Chelsea and United have overcome the injury setback thanks to their depth in the roster.
Meanwhile, Liverpool was the second least active team among the Big Six in the transfer window, and the team is paying for its shortcoming.