Much has been written about Sadio Mane‘s surprising struggles in the 2020-2021 season for Liverpool just one year after a career-best 2019-2020 campaign in which the Reds won the Premier League as a whole. Even Mane himself has harshly, but honestly, dubbed this current season as the worst of his highly successful career.
By an average Premier League winger’s standards, Mane’s actually had a very good season. Per WhoScored.com, he’s recorded nine goals and seven assists with 2.4 dribbles completed per game, 2.2 fouls drawn per game, and 1.7 key passes per game. Those creation-based statistics put him near or at the top of the charts for Liverpool.
However, by his lofty standards, Mane has been poor. Especially when you look past those numbers. Mane has been quite wasteful in front of goal. Finishing has never been his strongest suit, but he’s squandered too many chances this season for a left winger in a system where the No. 9 is more of a No. 10. And he’s also had some frustratingly sloppy giveaways on the ball, which make the dribbles completed feel less sweet.
Still, Mane hasn’t been as bad as social media, which tends to exaggerate or only remember particularly lowlights, will tell you. In some ways, Mane is a victim of his own high standards, in addition to being a potential victim of the burnout that a grueling season like this one would cause. After all, Mane has played over 3,600 minutes in all competitions this season!
Sadio Mane is more valuable to Liverpool than any other club
Taking into account some of his impressive statistics and his overall quality, to me, it’s a no-brainer that Sadio Mane will be significantly better in 2021-2022. He is a prime bounce-back candidate after a restful offseason and with a (hopefully) less stressful season on the horizon.
There’s been a lot of talk about Mane potentially being sold this summer so that Liverpool can cash-in on Mane before he is too old and maybe use that money on a younger forward.
The problem with “cashing in”, is, well, how much cash can the Reds even make? Mane is at his lowest point in value after his self-described worst season. And if a team wanted a left winger, why invest significantly in Mane when they can sign Jadon Sancho or simply show faith in their own ascending talent? And if they want someone cheaper than Sancho, they could sign a different young left winger.
Liverpool already have a promising player who can perform well on the left wing in Diogo Jota, and he can take on a greater role in 2021-2022 if Mane continues to struggle.
But I don’t think Mane will continue to struggle. When you look at his style of play and his familiarity with the team and system, you really have to say that Mane is more valuable to Liverpool than he is to any other team. Therefore, it is more beneficial for the Reds to keep him than to sell him.
They should keep faith in Mane. One bad year does not undo what this man has given to the club for YEARS. Mane is still a world-class forward, and I really do think some of the criticism has snowballed a little too far. Yes, he’s had a down year, but he is not suddenly a poor forward, nor is he remotely a liability. And he will almost certainly return to his dominance next season.