BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks believes that there is an obvious rift between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, and Liverpool teammate Roberto Firmino is the man to fix it.
As noted by the Liverpool Echo, tension and tempers flared at the weekend after a furious Mane appeared to be upset with his teammate for failing to pass the ball in dangerous situations to allow him to score.
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Based on the report above, it’s not something that Jurgen Klopp seems too concerned about, while the Liverpool duo have undoubtedly created a brilliant connection over the last two years and along with Roberto Firmino in between them, the Merseyside giants boast one of the best attacking tridents in Europe.
In turn, it’s unlikely that they will let that get in the way of chasing further success moving forward, but ultimately Mane’s reaction did turn heads and raise question marks about whether or not all is well within the Liverpool camp.
Crooks seemingly doesn’t believe it is, as he has suggested that it will be Firmino who now has a key role to play to ensure that there is no extension of the ‘rift’ between his teammates.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when Roberto Firmino is on song so are Liverpool. The Brazilian orchestrated a masterclass by the Merseysiders against a Burnley side who, but for one brief occasion, never looked in the match,” he wrote in his BBC Sport column.
“Perhaps Firmino can heal the obvious rift between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane because it would appear manager Jurgen Klopp is having difficulty. For Mane to explode so publicly, as he did at being substituted after Salah had so clearly ignored him on two occasions to score, was completely justified. Salah can’t play this game on his own – a point Firmino clearly understands.”
Based on the video below, the Brazilian ace may well do so in a light-hearted and hilarious way, but the most important thing from a Liverpool perspective is that they secured three points in another comfortable win this past weekend.
That said though, they’ll obviously be keen to have a happy squad to ensure that they can continue to compete for major honours this season, and so they’ll be hoping that Mane’s reaction was a mini outburst as frustration was running high rather than an issue that that will rumble on after the international break.
Firmino’s face while being in the middle of Mane and Salah. ??? pic.twitter.com/TVS7Idm8gm
— Samuel (@SamueILFC) August 31, 2019
