Sometimes a single incident overshadows a game. I'm not sure that it should: when Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool take on Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, you'd imagine there would be enough other stuff to talk about. But Sadio Mane's red card seemingly took on a life of its own and became the story.
Opinions seem to be viscerally divided on this one. Personally, I feel sorry for Mane but equally, he had to go. I feel sorry for Mane because anybody who has played the game at any level knows that there situations when you are chasing the ball at full throttle and all you're thinking of is getting there first. Sure, he has a duty of care towards his fellow professionals, and I think it's entirely plausible that in his peripheral vision, he saw Ederson advancing towards him. But equally, it's highly plausible that he knew the City goalkeeper was outside his area. And that meant the only way Ederson would get the ball first is if he launched into some improbable (and likely uncoordinated) karate kick of his own, in which case Mane would get fouled and Ederson sent off.
I genuinely don't think it occurred to Mane that Ederson would put his face down in the way of his boot and head the ball away. That's extreme bravery bordering on recklessness (for your own health). All of this, however, is me guessing what Mane is thinking, and assuming that his brain could have processed all of this in a matter of milliseconds. I'm not a neuroscientist; I have no idea. But it's what makes me feel sorry for Mane. Yet just because I have sympathy for him doesn't mean he should not have been sent off. The basic rule: when your boot is above waist height, you'd better be sure nobody is nearby.
Until the red card, Liverpool had hung in there. After it, they simply collapsed, and while it's obviously not easy playing a team like City a man down, you still didn't expect that level of capitulation.
At the risk of being repetitive, when you go into a game like this with Trent Alexander-Arnold (who is 18 and was making his fourth-ever league start) and Ragnar Klavan in your back four, you're simply undermanned. It's also rather interesting to note that over on the left, Alberto Moreno has played more first-team minutes this season than he did in the previous eight months. Given how Moreno started all of two league matches last year, the way he's come back in vogue suggests Klopp is seeing him a little differently.
As for City, so much of Guardiola's 3-1-4-2 (or whatever you want to call it) seems counterintuitive, like using Kyle Walker the way he did (so far up the pitch) or opting for a front two. But then he's built a whole career on thinking outside the box -- and been proved right more often that not -- so fair enough
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Opinions seem to be viscerally divided on this one. Personally, I feel sorry for Mane but equally, he had to go. I feel sorry for Mane because anybody who has played the game at any level knows that there situations when you are chasing the ball at full throttle and all you're thinking of is getting there first. Sure, he has a duty of care towards his fellow professionals, and I think it's entirely plausible that in his peripheral vision, he saw Ederson advancing towards him. But equally, it's highly plausible that he knew the City goalkeeper was outside his area. And that meant the only way Ederson would get the ball first is if he launched into some improbable (and likely uncoordinated) karate kick of his own, in which case Mane would get fouled and Ederson sent off.
I genuinely don't think it occurred to Mane that Ederson would put his face down in the way of his boot and head the ball away. That's extreme bravery bordering on recklessness (for your own health). All of this, however, is me guessing what Mane is thinking, and assuming that his brain could have processed all of this in a matter of milliseconds. I'm not a neuroscientist; I have no idea. But it's what makes me feel sorry for Mane. Yet just because I have sympathy for him doesn't mean he should not have been sent off. The basic rule: when your boot is above waist height, you'd better be sure nobody is nearby.
Until the red card, Liverpool had hung in there. After it, they simply collapsed, and while it's obviously not easy playing a team like City a man down, you still didn't expect that level of capitulation.
At the risk of being repetitive, when you go into a game like this with Trent Alexander-Arnold (who is 18 and was making his fourth-ever league start) and Ragnar Klavan in your back four, you're simply undermanned. It's also rather interesting to note that over on the left, Alberto Moreno has played more first-team minutes this season than he did in the previous eight months. Given how Moreno started all of two league matches last year, the way he's come back in vogue suggests Klopp is seeing him a little differently.
As for City, so much of Guardiola's 3-1-4-2 (or whatever you want to call it) seems counterintuitive, like using Kyle Walker the way he did (so far up the pitch) or opting for a front two. But then he's built a whole career on thinking outside the box -- and been proved right more often that not -- so fair enough
Friends, if you like this post kindly comment below and do share your responds Thanks for reading
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