Mane and Keita – Liverpool’s Dynamic Duo Could Help Fire Them To The Title 

Article by Sam McGuire @SamMcGuire90  In football, it’s rare to find two players who have a genuine bond on the pitch as well as off of it but Liverpool have something special in Naby Keita and Sadio Mane.   Throughout the years, the Reds have been fortunate enough to be able to pair great players together and reap the rewards. Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush regularly wreaked havoc, Kevin Keegan and John Toshack spearheaded the team in the 1970s and Peter Beardsley and Rush ran riot as the Reds lifted the title in 1990.   Then came the Premier League years. Stan Collymore and Robbie Fowler struck up a bond. The latter then formed a potent partnership with Michael Owen, who in turn forged an understanding with Emile Heskey which resulted in goals galore. Owen and Steven Gerrard worked well together but the former Liverpool captain came into his own and played the best football of his career alongside Fernando Torres.   Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge nearly fired Liverpool to the league title in 2013/14 but that partnership was believed to have been born out of a competition to best the other.   With the exception of those from the 1980s, how many of them enjoyed a good relationship outside of the 90 minutes spent playing together every weekend, and not just a respectful one?   But Jurgen Klopp has assembled a group of players who, going off of the Instagram stories this summer, all really get on. But the most intriguing friendship is that between Mane and Keita.   The two are long-time friends having spent a brief time together in Austria while playing for Red Bull Salzburg in 2014. Mane eventually left to join Southampton but he went out of his way to make the midfielder feel at home.   “At first, I wasn’t starting and it was very frustrating,” Keita told Goal. “I didn’t like it and it made the settling-in period harder. But Sadio said: ‘My little brother, stay calm. Your chance will come and when it does, you will make the most of it’.   “He helped me with everything – the language, making friends, understanding the club and the city. And, of course, he was right. Once I was put into the team, I showed my qualities and everything went much smoother.   “Salzburg improved me as a player and I learnt so much there, I got a really tactical education. Sadio was important for me, he still is! To me, he’s my big brother. He really likes to learn new things, to improve and to push himself and we are the same in this way. He’s a good example for me.”   And it’s evident that the feeling is mutual. “He’s a friend for me,” said Mane, speaking to LFC TV. “Even not a friend, he’s like a brother. Because we keep in touch all the time, talking.” The fact they’re both represented by Arena11 has no doubt helped keep this friendship strong. Reuniting them could be the catalyst for both players to take their games to the next level and if their performances against West Ham United are anything to go by the players feel the same way about this, too.   The new No.10 bagged twice to carry his pre-season goalscoring form into the Premier League while Keita was instrumental in the middle third, as highlighted in Chris’ latest Tactics Weekly show. Despite impressive individual showings, it was their link-up play that got people talking.   It was obvious from the off on Sunday.   It wasn’t anything spectacular but Mane, like a big brother taking the lead, was dictating where where and what Keita should do with the ball as he felt his way into the match. It has to be said that it helped that the away side weren’t cutting off passing lanes or tracking runs. But in the picture above you can clearly see the Liverpool forward pointing to where he wants the ball.   The No.8 plays a ball into Mane’s feet and the Senegalese speedster turns on the ball, given he’s in a fair amount of space, and plays it out wide to James Milner. While it’s clear Keita doesn’t lack self-belief, the Liverpool No.10 kind of took on the responsibility to free up the midfielder.   It happened again early on in the first half. Mane is handing out instructions to Keita, in the picture above, pointing to tell him to underlap him while he made the run into the channel. It was encouraging to visibly see him taking charge of situations and ensuring Liverpool had the right pieces of the puzzle in place to maintain attacking situations.   This move eventually ends with Milner’s driven ball across the face of goal evading Mane, Firmino and Mohamed Salah with Keita lurking just beyond the penalty spot.   The picture above is just prior to Salah seeing his effort saved by Lukasz Fabianski but what’s interesting is what is going on at the back post. Both Keita and Mane are attacking it and Liverpool have what resembles a front four. However, the former is only in that position because of what transpired beforehand. The former RB Leipzig man picked the ball up in a central area and drove forward into the space vacated by Mane after he’d drifted into a wide position.   It’s different to what he was doing last season when he was taking up positions in the centre of the pitch and looking to be the creator. But he’s already adapting his style to accommodate Keita. He may have made an initial run wide but it’s Mane who plays a pass to Firmino before breaking his neck to get into a goalscoring position within the six-yard area.   He’s still doing Mane things but he’s doing it in a way which allows Keita to get involved and this can only be a positive for the side. Not to get carried away with it but If this is a sign of things to come, this could be one of the best and most profitable partnerships the Reds have ever had and could be one of the foundations to help build a title challenge. Article by Sam McGuire @SamMcGuire90