Premier League: All is not well between Salah and Mane? Liverpool boss responds
Between the two of them, Salah and Mane have scored 32 Premier League goals this season and have played an instrumental role in helping Liverpool close the gap to Manchester City at the top of the table to just a point.
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After Sadio Mane's Senegal eliminated Mohamed Salah's Egypt from the FIFA World Cup 2022, rumours have been rife that the Liverpool pair do not get along too well. However, ahead of the Reds clash against Watford on Saturday, manager Jurgen Klopp rubbished these rumours, adding that the duo enjoy a close working relationship.
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Between the two of them, Salah and Mane have scored 32 Premier League goals this season and have played an instrumental role in helping Liverpool close the gap to Manchester City at the top of the table to just a point.
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The pair went head-to-head on international duty last week, where the Egyptian captain faced a barrage of lasers before wildly missing a pivotal penalty as the Pharaohs faced yet another shootout defeat by Senegal. Salah's club teammate Sadio Mané converted his spot-kick to send the Africa Cup of Nations champions to this winter's showpiece event in Qatar. This led to speculations that all is not well between Liverpool's key performers.
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However, Klopp has rubbished these speculations and insisted Salah and Mane just want to be as successful as they can be on the pitch, and any frustration they show is because of their desire to be the best they can possibly be.
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"You play together in a team, and both want to score goals. That is normal. We want them to score goals. There are situations where one doesn't see the other and doesn't finish the situation off, and then we immediately say, 'what is the reason for that?" Klopp said while addressing the media.
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"The reason for that is that in this situation, he thinks: 'I can put it in here'. And then the goalie has the same idea, and the ball does not go in. Then it is easy to say afterwards if you had passed the ball, then it would have been in," the Liverpool boss added.
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"I have these moments outside, but when I watch the situation back, I accept there is no chance. It was really difficult to pass the ball and these kinds of things. There is nothing. That is how it is. We are human beings, and from time to time, we make wrong decisions, but it is nothing personal," Klopp stated.
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"We just want to score a goal and realise a little bit later it was the wrong decision. It is nothing to do with any kind of rivalry with another player on your team. It is just the wrong decision," the German added.
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"No doubt about it, they are not only close, but they are also well educated, they are good boys, they are good humans. Sadio and Mo would consider themselves for sure as friends. They probably have 'best friends' somewhere, maybe here or at home, and this situation would be challenging even if it was your best friend," Klopp concluded.