Fantastic piece.
Liverpool transfer for Sadio Mane is not an exciting marquee signing - Klopp can change that
28 Jun 2016
By Kristian Walsh
JĂźrgen Klopp has been insistent from the beginning. In his first campaign â a furious one which had injuries, adaptation, an unprecedented fixture pile-up â the German found one consistency.
His management is about training, not transfers.
That was his message when he arrived in October. It was similar a month later, in the aftermath of his first defeat as Liverpool manager.
âIâm not the guy who buys 10 players today and sells 10 players tomorrow, because we want to work together,â he said.
âI believe in training, sometimes I feel like Iâm the only one in this country who believes in training, only others believe in transfers.
âI love this game because training can make the difference.â
That idea has been prevalent throughout his first year on Merseyside. He said it when he missed out on Alex Teixeira because of Shakhtarâs astronomical demands - âWe have money, but we are not in Disneylandâ - and was intimating similar in the build-up to the Europa League final.
Itâs training, not transfers, which Klopp cares about most.
But that isnât sexy enough. Rolling news channels of torturous yellow hue do not concern themselves with kilometres run around training cones; social media does not become ablaze because of preparations on a Friday afternoon at Melwood.
Modern football is obsessed with transfers. They are followed as fiercely as what happens on the pitch, eliciting the same emotions. A successful signing is cause for celebration; missing out on a target prompts despair.
What a contrast then, that a manager so charismatic, should focus on something so regarded as banal.
He would no doubt be confused with the reaction to Sadio Maneâs ÂŁ30m move to Anfield, which is expected to be completed today.
The criticisms over the deal are clear, and most are fair. There is concern over the fee, questions over his consistency and grumbling over a transfer which once more involves Southampton.
There has been another cause for complaint, however. Mane is not the marquee signing.
Itâs a questionable term in footballing lexicon full of them. The âmanagerial merry-go-roundâ does not see Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola straddling plastic pink horses eating cotton candy, nor is the âroad to Wembleyâ a long strip of tarmac which cars career up until finally parking up at the FA Cup final in May.
Likewise, no player has ever been unveiled under a marquee. The utterance of the term, however, is revealing. He is the main man, the big hitter, a player to sell thousands of shirts with a mere wave to the crowd.
That isnât Mane. It could have been Mario Gotze, but he has become so accustomed to the bench at the Allianz Arena, he wants to stay there. Despite that, the Germanâs arrival would have no doubt been lauded more than Maneâs.
Yet look at their respective efforts over the last 24 months. Mane has scored the fastest Premier League hat trick, notching three goals in under three minutes; he has scored against Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton; he bagged a stunning treble against Manchester City, and put four past Liverpool this season. His level of performance has seen him attract interest from Manchester United, Tottenham and Bayern Munich.
In that time, Gotze has started just 39 league games and has struggled to maintain the standard that saw him as Germanyâs World Cup winner. He has won titles, but has been a peripheral figure, a loss of form and fitness telling.
That is not to suggest Mane is a better player than Gotze. Indeed, a comparison feels pointless, the difference in their styles raising the question how the Senegalese was considered the alternative.
The apathy is tangible; Mane as the star buy is an underwhelming prospect. That is despite the forward producing some truly outstanding moments in the Premier League.
Perhaps that â the Premier League â is the key to this. Mane has been a weekly fixture on television screens for the past two years. The joy of the unknown is very much absent.
That intense feeling towards transfers is akin to a child at Christmas. That wander down the stairs to see what Santa has left is no different to the turn of the newspaper page to see who will be wearing red from August onwards. Receiving a toy you have already played with is not much fun at all.
Thatâs understandable. There is no real allure to Maneâs arrival and, after two years at Southampton, the mystique is non-existent.
Remember Kloppâs vow, though. Training, not transfers.
Fans have seen what he is capable of at the Saints, but not Liverpool.
When the Reds appointed Klopp, he came with a reputation of improving players. In his first campaign, he did that with a number of the current squad â including attack-minded players such as Roberto Firmino, Divock Origi and Adam Lallana.
His currency is in creating stars, not collecting them from elsewhere.
Mane is still considered a raw talent. At 24, there is plenty of scope for improvement. No player has had as many unsuccessful touches as him over the past two seasons, and he attempted an average of 33 passes per game in 2015-16.
Statistics that need to improve, and could do under Klopp. Maneâs previous two managers â Roger Schmidt and Ronald Koeman â both liked to play a pressing game, something that will be valuable under another keen proponent of that style.
There is not much excitement surrounding Mane, but there could be once Klopp gets him on the training pitch.
Liverpool have rarely been a club to pursue the biggest names available, and without Champions League football, that will continue.
The Reds boss wonât mind that, either. It is training, not transfers, which excite him.
Perhaps it should excite the fans, too. It did in October.
For now, fans must simply tear down their marquee infatuation, for Klopp at Melwood is the biggest show in town.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-transfer-sadio-mane-not-11533808
