Klopp: Mane has learnt to contain his emotions

[TLW]

Jurgen Klopp has praised the maturity of Sadio Mane despite the efforts of defenders to get under his skin.

 

Mo Salah is largely seen by opponents as the player that has to be contained when coming up the Reds, however a number of opposition teams have gone down the route of specifically targeting the Senegal international.

 

Like any world-class player, Mane is a competitor who wants to do all he can to get his team over the line and wont put up with being physically bullied by a opponent.  

 

But by definition he is certainly not a ‘hot head’ and this tactic which has come to fruition over the past couple of seasons has the Reds manager somewhat bemused.

 

Klopp discussed this issue in the lead up to the clash with Mane’s former team Southampton at Anfield on Saturday as the Echo reported:

 

"Oh yes, we have [spoken], but for sure for much longer it was a thing, even when it was not obvious to the outside.

 

"You can see it in games they go for him because they want to wind him up, even if it is not that obvious.

 

“But it is two different things; one is to make Sadio to be really aggressive during games, we saw that against Flamengo in the Club World Cup final (December 2019).

 

"Rafinha wanted to go for him after he caused them some problems when we played Bayern Munich in the Champions League, it was obvious from the first second.

 

"It was really hard and Sadio is having a discussion with him [saying]: ‘what do you want?’, fouling him and getting up and saying it was nothing, these kinds of things.”

 

Atletico Madrid are another team which has made it a main priority to wind up Mane, but Klopp said he has come a long way since his difficult first game against the Spanish outfit in February 2020 when he had to be withdrawn at half time.

 

“Sadio is now of an age where he is much better at that.

 

"He's not that emotional any more, but we all need emotions obviously and sometimes we control them better and sometimes less and yes we've had these talks, of course, but that was not about that.

 

 

“It had nothing to do with these situations, I really don’t think it had anything to do with the situation against Arsenal (last week), it was pretty much nothing, a normal challenge”

 

Klopp has spoken many times about the style of game that he likes to see played and is clear that he has little time for teams who are cynical in their tactics such as the reigning La Liga champions and their recent display at Anfield.

 

"They had the red card for Felipe and you will remember directly after the next situation a player went down and made more [of the challenge] just to make sure they get our player sent off or yellow card, so that is what I was talking about.

 

“It is just that, The headline is 'we pay back with football'. We pay back with football, so whatever we do, we pay them back with football."

 

Like many players, the 29 year-old struggled to display his true from during the 2020/21 season, producing his lowest goal output (16) in a league campaign since the 2016/7 season.

 

This season he has scored nine goals from just 17 appearances in all competitions marking a return to top form, not that Klopp was in any doubt.

 

“With Sadio, nothing was needed really, when you think about last season and this season. I didn't have long talks with Sadio or anything like that.

 

"Sadio is a very confident person and knew....we all felt it on the first day of pre-season, after a proper break, he was completely 100 per cent there. It was clear.

 

"It was obvious that if he was lucky with injuries it would be a really good season for him because that is the quality he has. And that is what he shows now.

 

"So I cannot say enough how important it is for these players to have a proper break - I will speak about that until the next 20 years, but the authorities will not change it.

 

"That is really tough for the boys. But this year Mo and Sadio had a proper break and at the moment, so far, we are getting the benefit of that."

 

 

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[Guest]

Klopp: Sadio Mané has learnt to contain his emotions and get Andy Robertson to sort them out.

[Trumo]

4 hours ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

Klopp: Sadio Mané has learnt to contain his emotions and get Andy Robertson to sort them out.

 

Jurgen cited the incident with Rafinha and Flamengo. I remember at half time when the players were coming in and Robbo says to Sadio within earshot of Rafinha "Don't worry, I'll sort him out" or words to that effect.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Trumo said:

 

Jurgen cited the incident with Rafinha and Flamengo. I remember at half time when the players were coming in and Robbo says to Sadio within earshot of Rafinha "Don't worry, I'll sort him out" or words to that effect.

Yep, and then Robbo absolutely clattered into him after the ball had gone and not even a foul. 

[Barrington Womble]

I wondered if Mane's roll around on Saturday when bednarek went down his calf was a different way of dealing with things. He's normally pretty quick to get up, but he must have rolled over about 10 times, it was quite funny. 

[m0e]

8 hours ago, Barrington Womble said:

I wondered if Mane's roll around on Saturday when bednarek went down his calf was a different way of dealing with things. He's normally pretty quick to get up, but he must have rolled over about 10 times, it was quite funny. 

Yeah I noticed that. Unusual from him