Thierry Henry: Sadio Mane is a proper footballer with an attitude to admire and he understands the game so well
SADIO MANE is one of the most efficient players in the Premier League right now and there will be no messing around from him against Arsenal on Sunday.
The Liverpool winger is a proper footballer with an attitude to admire. And it’s refreshing to see a guy who understands the game so well.
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He is a direct player who knows his job is to kill the opposition. There are no step-overs or unnecessary extra touches.
He gets the ball and he runs at full speed. He is honest, plays with all his heart and always works hard to hurt the other team.
Two backheels Mane pulled off against Hoffenheim the other night took the entire defence with him and freed acres of space for a team-mate.
I’ve been a big fan of Mane’s since he was at Salzburg and he’s proving himself to be one of Jurgen Klopp’s best signings for Liverpool.
He was having a Player of the Year campaign last season until he suffered a serious knee injury and I’m surprised how quickly he has recovered from that.
If Philippe Coutinho stays at Liverpool, you would expect him to play on the left. So if Mane switches to the other wing, where does that leave Mo Salah?
Mane delivers the same end product whichever side he plays on. But I get the feeling he is more comfortable on the left, where he can cut inside and shoot.
He has a good record against Arsenal — and how Arsene Wenger could have done with a player with his straight-forward approach at Stoke last week.
It will be interesting to see what difference the return of Alexis Sanchez will make for Arsenal and how quickly he can strike up an understanding with Alexandre Lacazette.
You can watch my interview with Alexandre on Sky today and there is no doubt he has added to Arsenal’s firepower this season with Alexis and Olivier Giroud. If you are going to challenge for the title you need three or four strikers to deliver.
I’ve been following Lacazette’s career for a long time. He used to be known as not the hardest worker but he learned how to pressure opponents and changed his game.
He’s been scoring for many seasons for Lyon and I know how much he has progressed.
I thought it was all settled for him to sign for Atletico Madrid this summer. But when that move fell through it was no surprise he signed for another big club.
He’s the sort of guy who will do whatever the team needs. So there will be times when he has the ball and we are yelling, ‘Shoot’ and he will pass it to someone in a better position.
I used to think about percentages when I was playing. Sometimes I was one-on- one with the keeper and gave it to a team-mate for a tap-in. Lacazette has that in his locker.
He put a beautiful cross on Aaron Ramsey’s head against Leicester and another pass back to Mesut Ozil when he could easily have had a shot.
Scoring goals today is not going to be a problem for either team, it’s keeping them out.
Arsenal and Liverpool both need to tighten up defensively if they are going to challenge for the title.
This is already a massive game for Arsenal because they lost last week.
They need some kind of a result today because everyone will be watching to see how they perform against a big rival.