A Champions League, a Premier League and seasons full of suspense and twists and turns. The years of the Mané-Firmino-Salah trio were particularly tasty for Liverpool, and the Anfield public was amazed during their 5 years together. Firmino, who arrived in the summer of 2015, Mané, in 2016 and Salah, in 2017, formed one of the very best trios in Europe, but everything was not simple. Remember the few moody gestures captured by the cameras during certain meetings. The English press reveled in the apparent tension between Sadio Mané, the Senegalese left winger, and Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian right winger.
Between the two, the altruistic Brazilian Roberto Firmino could closely observe the rivalry between his two teammates. And now he can tell it. Indeed, he exposes the underside of the relationship between the two men in a book, “Si Senor, my years in Liverpool”, with sincerity and humor. The Guardian publishes the correct sheets. “I knew these guys very well, maybe better than anyone. It was me on the pitch, right in the middle of them. I saw with my own eyes the looks, the grimaces, the body language, the dissatisfaction when one was angry with the other. I could feel it”he writes.
“They were never best friends”
“I don’t know if he was aware of it or not, but Salah frustrated everyone when he didn’t pass the ball. I knew how to handle this situation better than anyone. Klopp addressed this issue in front of all of us: when a teammate was in a better position, the ball should be passed to them. It was a clear instruction aimed at Salah. Over the years, I have to say that this aspect of his game has improved considerably. He has gradually learned to be less selfish and more cooperative – even though he is a striker, a scorer, and every scorer tends to be a little greedy in the quest for a goal. It’s normal. »
“Mané was more intense in good times and bad. He was the most explosive of the three of us and he was also the person with whom I had the most freedom to discuss this subject. I always talked to him, gave him advice, tried to calm him down. I told him to find peace, play for the team and stay relaxed. They were never best friends; everyone remained alone. It was rare to see the two of them talking and I don’t know if that had to do with the Egyptian-Senegalese rivalry in African competitions. I really do not know. But they never stopped talking, never broke their ties. They have always acted with the utmost professionalism. »
“I never took sides. That’s why they love me: I always passed the ball to both; my preference was for the team to win. Many focus on what I brought to the attacking trio in tactical terms, but perhaps just as important was the human element: my role as peacemaker and unifier. If I didn’t, it would have been nothing but storms between the two of them on the pitch.”, he assures. He also explains that he understood why his coach Jürgen Klopp replaced him more easily than his two colleagues, to avoid a war of egos. With the obvious tensions between Mané and Salah, Firmino’s collective intelligence therefore played a big role in Liverpool’s conquests. Even more perhaps than his numerous goals scored with the Reds.
