{"id":585011,"date":"2025-11-21T16:08:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/585011\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T16:08:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:08:24","slug":"sadio-mane-claims-the-best-partner-of-his-liverpool-career-was-neither-mohamed-salah-nor-roberto-firmino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/585011\/","title":{"rendered":"Sadio Mane claims the best partner of his Liverpool career was neither Mohamed Salah nor Roberto Firmino"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Liverpool are arguably still to replace Sadio Mane on the left wing more than three years since his departure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Senegal legend occupied a near-certain position on the left of the Reds\u2019 attack for six glorious seasons under Jurgen Klopp.<\/p>\n

Six months before Mane<\/a>\u2018s exit, Luis Diaz was brought in, and although the Colombian proved to be an excellent signing, he never quite rose to the level of his predecessor.<\/p>\n

\"mailJoin our newsletter for news & smart analysis. <\/p>\n

Diaz himself has now moved on, with Arne Slot struggling to get the best out of Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz or anyone else he uses on the left wing.<\/p>\n

Part of the issue this season has been the impact of trying to bed Milos Kerkez in as a new left-back. The Hungarian is taking time to build relationships on the pitch, and Liverpool<\/a> are suffering as a result.<\/p>\n

It is a far cry from Mane\u2019s days of linking up with Andy Robertson<\/a>. Looking back on his time with the Reds in conversation with Rio Ferdinand this week, Mane has paid a big compliment to Liverpool\u2019s veteran full-back.<\/p>\n

\"SadioPhoto by Catherine Ivill\/Getty ImagesSadio Mane picks Andy Robertson as his best partner<\/p>\n

When discussing Mane\u2019s Liverpool career, the conversation will never be far from the topic of his legendary partnership with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.<\/p>\n

Between them the three players formed one of the best trios European football has ever seen, and some supporters may have expected Mane to pick one of the two as his best link-up.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Sadio Mane told Liverpool youngster he was going to become a \u2018big player\u2019 but he\u2019s now in League Two<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Should Liverpool have tried harder to keep Sadio Mane? \"TottenhamPhoto by Etsuo Hara\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLiverpool was like home, it was my comfort zone. So, I thought let\u2019s try something because I have won almost everything here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadio Mane on why he left Liverpool<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But while the 33-year-old gives a glowing assessment of Firmino and speaks well of Salah too, he gives that accolade to Robertson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this was amazing, people usually talk about the front three, me, Bobby and Mo but if you see Robertson, the overlapping and this desire to win every single ball, it\u2019s just amazing,\u201d Mane said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobbo for me was the partnership in all my career because we knew each other. It was just natural since he came, it just became natural. I helped him, he helped me. When he played against a winger who was really tough for him, I said \u2018you help me, I\u2019ll help you. I said I will be here for you, don\u2019t worry! We will catch him!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him I\u2019ll take the inside, if the winger is tough, Robbo took the outside. Even if I was tired, it was always \u2018help me, help you\u2019. I would go, take the inside and he\u2019d take the outside so it was easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liverpool badly missing left-hand side partnership<\/p>\n

Mane and Robertson\u2019s partnership did not solidify overnight, but it can be hard not to think of the two in tandem down the Liverpool left and not get a little misty-eyed.<\/p>\n

The Reds are currently a long way from having something similar to lean on on that side of the pitch.<\/p>\n

Who will win Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest on Saturday? \"LiverpoolPhoto by Alex Livesey \u2013 Danehouse\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Kerkez has had his struggles since arriving, but the issue here is not necessarily even his. It is arguably more of a problem that Gakpo does not feel like the long-term answer.<\/p>\n

Liverpool have been heavily linked with a move for Antoine Semenyo, adding to the feeling that Slot does not have the man he wants at left wing.<\/p>\n

If Semenyo does come in, perhaps he can strike up a partnership with his former Bournemouth teammate which compares to that which Mane and Robertson formed. Until then, supporters will continue to dream of what they used to have. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool are arguably still to replace Sadio Mane on the left wing more than three years since his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[33159,748,393,4884,179,184522,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-585011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-andy-robertson","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-sadio-manu00e9","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115588558022194790","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}