Sadio Mane shirt number change hints at new Liverpool formation

Sadio Mane is the new owner of the Liverpool number 10 shirt and that could hint at a tweak from Jurgen Klopp to the Reds’ formation this season.

Ever since Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool in January the consensus has been that Jurgen Klopp needs to find a new number 10. Well he has found his man and he didn’t have to look very far! Sadio Mane has switched shirts from number 19 to the famous number 10.

Mane follows in the footsteps of John Barnes, John Toshack, Ronnie Whelan, Michael Owen and Luis Garcia. (Let’s not mention Joe Cole or Andriy Voronin). That is plenty of history and expectation. It is not simply a squad number to satisfy Premier League regulations. It means something more.

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We know that Klopp has been keen to add a versatile attacking midfielder this summer. That man was set to be Nabil Fekir from Lyon. However with the transfer falling through to medical issues it now looks like the summer transfer business is done.

The presumption until today is that Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane from right to left would continue as a front trio. Then perhaps with Adam Lallana or new boy Xherdan Shaqiri as the number 10 options without Fekir or an alternative arriving.

The news of Mane’s number change could be a prompt to him moving a little deeper and more centrally in some games; much like Couthinho did when he was positioned (nominally) on the left.

That would make Firmino and Salah more of a striker duo with Mane joining Naby Keita in the middle to collect the ball and feed the front partnership.

I think Klopp’s default system will remain the 4-3-3 formation we are used to and worked so well last year. It thrives on pressing and exploiting the gaps behind full backs on the break.

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Having Mane in a number 10 role in a 4-3-1-2 formation would be better to exploit teams who play deeply with numbers; making best use of the space in midfield. It will be exciting to watch how Klopp tweaks his side this year with his new midfield options.