10/11/2023 Act. at 10:52 CET
The 32-year-old Brazilian striker, today at Al-Ahli, reveals in his book ‘YES SIR: My Liverpool Years’ the wars between the two stars
Firmino had to act as a mediator on multiple occasions between two ‘egos’ like the Egyptian and the Senegalese
Not everything was peace and harmony in the best years of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, when the team went on to win the Champions League in the Metropolitan final against Tottenham.
The bad relationship between the two forward stars, Mo Salah and Sadio Mané, It almost poisoned the atmosphere in the Anfield locker room without remedy.
This is revealed by Roberto Firmino, the third component of an already legendary forward, in his book ‘YES SIR: My Liverpool Years’, where he speaks openly about the tense rivalry between the Egyptian and the Senegalese: “Mo Salah and Sadio Mané were never Best Friends”.
The Brazilian speaks of his role as a “firefighter” to pacify them. After eight years at Anfield, Firmino is a 32-year-old player for Al-Ahli and has decided to explain his experiences in professional football in a book that contains juicy stories.
Thus, he comments that Salah and Mané “were very reserved. It was strange to see them talking and I don’t know if the rivalry that has always existed between Egypt and Senegal had something to do with it.” in African competitions.
The South American forward highlights, however, that Salah and Mané “never stopped talking to each other, they never completely cut their ties. They always acted with the greatest professionalism.”
These internal battles between the two African strikers ended up affecting Firmino’s role at Liverpool since “Klopp knew that I would not protest when I changed. I never took sides with either of them and that’s why they love me: He always passed the ball to both of them; my preference was for the team to win.”
“There is a lot of analysis of what I could contribute to the attacking trio in tactical terms, but Maybe the human element was just as important: my role as a peacemaker, as a unifier. If I didn’t do that, they would be nothing but storms between the two on the field,” he adds.
The one from Maceió shared that “Perhaps as a result of that, I was the player Klopp substituted most often. The three of us have very different personalities and the boss knew that he wouldn’t throw a bottle on the ground or anything like that if he changed me in a match. If he bothered me, I spoke up.”
“Everyone in the team knew that this was how things worked. It was the worst kept secret in Liverpool. Naturally, no one asked me what I thought or how I felt. That’s my nature, the team comes first,” he adds.
Roberto Firmino gives as an example the notorious incident between Salah and Mané after a victory against Burnley four years ago: “We were in the locker room tunnel, returning after winning well 3-0, but the atmosphere was very tense. Despite the good result, “The match was marked by an outburst of fury from Sadio Mané when he was substituted with the match almost over.”
“TV cameras captured the image. Sadio wasn’t just pissed off about the change. Furthermore, shortly before leaving the field Mohamed Salah had tried to shoot at goal when he had a clear pass to Mané, who was unmarked in the area. Well, my English isn’t wonderful, so I can’t tell you exactly what Mané shouted when he came out. But it wasn’t pleasant at all! James Milner tried to calm him down, but Sadio was furious, sitting on the bench fuming, gesticulating repeatedly,” explains Firmino.
After eight years on Merseyside, the Brazilian says that “I knew those two guys very well, maybe better than anyone. I was on the field right in the middle of the two. I was able to see firsthand the looks, the grimaces between them, the body language, the dissatisfaction when one was angry with the other. “I could feel it.”
Adds Firmino: “I was the link between them in our attacking game and the firefighter for those other moments. For many, that disagreement between Sadio and Mo was the first; for some, the first and the last. But I knew it had been brewing since the previous season, 2018-19. My instinct and my duty was to calm the situation between them. “Pour water on the fire, never gasoline.”
Definitely, a book that promises.
2023-11-10 09:37:10
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