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Roberto Firmino embodies unselfishness unalike Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane

Sudarshan Venkatesan
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Roberto Firmino embodies unselfishness unalike Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane

Roberto Firmino is known for his unselfishness unalike Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. 

Sadio Mane was furious with Mohamed Salah after the refusal of the Egyptian to pass the ball. When the Senegalese International was substituted, he vented his frustration at his teammates, who comforted him in the process.

Liverpool’s Skipper Jordan Henderson said both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are getting along like before, with nil issues. Apparently, the Reds number 10 refused to answer the media in the mixed zone while leaving Turf Moore on Saturday. It was very uncharacteristic of the forward failing to answer the journalist’s question. This shows that this incident happened in the heat of the moment and the fans should refuse to look into this situation more.

However, an individual’s disposition cannot be written off that easily. When Mohamed Salah had a pocket of space to pass the ball to Sadio Mane, the Egyptian rather went for the shot by complicating the situation.

The forward set unprecedented standards in his first season by scoring 44 goals, but his goal tally dropped by 16. To be frank, the forward would not have expected to score that goal tally following his move from Roma. Salah tries too hard at times to increase his goal tally and help his team.

During the away trip to Tottenham Hotspur last season, Sadio Mane broke through the counter-attack and passed the ball to Naby Keita, instead of spraying the ball to Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian was in a relatively comfortable position, but Jan Vertonghen would have probably defended it.

While this is becoming an unnecessary debate, their teammate Roberto Firmino embodies the word ‘unselfishness’. The Brazilian, who makes his team tick by dropping deep to feed Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, did something remarkable during Liverpool’s away game against Stoke City in 2017.

The Reds were grabbling to find the go-ahead goal in the first half and found one through Sadio Mane, with Dominic Solanke’s deft touch coming into play.

The Senegalese dinked the ball over the Senegalese goalkeeper and Firmino could have easily tapped the ball in from close range. Since Mane waved at him not to touch the ball, the Reds number 9 backed off – contributing to Sadio Mane’s success.

Indeed, Firmino even missed out on 45,000 bonus by not nabbing Sadio Mane’s goal in his contract.

The return of 50 goals in 141 Premier League games for the Brazilian does not portray his character because of the hard work he puts in to make his team tick by linking the midfield with the attack. He also has 34 assists in the league.

Strikers are bound to be selfish and it is no different with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. When they finish off chances, it would be remembered for their brilliance, and when it does not pay off, it paints a bad picture.

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