Re: Mamadou "Kirikou" Sakho

by iftikhar Thu Sep 17, 2015 5:36 pm

Stand-in captain for Bordeaux-Liverpool game :wub:

. Gooooo MaMa Thumbs up

.

by McAgger Fri Sep 18, 2015 6:08 pm

Melissa Reddy ‏@MelissaReddy_ 26s27 seconds ago

Mamadou Sakho has signed a new five-year deal with #LFC. He had two years remaining on his old contract, fresh one runs until 2020.

Great news if true. Maybe he was promised starting place finally. Hopefully at least. Or even better maybe he was promised Rodgers would be gone.

by mr-r34 Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:44 am

IF he doesn't start this weekend, thats the last straw.

by Art Morte Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:55 am

He's signed a new contract, that's fantastic. I'm sure Rodgers will start him now.

by donttreadonred Sat Sep 19, 2015 2:30 pm

I can't begin to express how happy I am that this man signed his new contract. Up to this point, Rodgers had seemed to be doing everything he could to force Mamadou out of the club: limiting his starts, dropping him at the first opportunity, consistently selecting two inferior players over him, and subsequently causing him to be dropped from a France team that honestly needs his composure and leadership at the back.

As you can probably tell from my comments above, he is one of my favorite players at the club (was one of my favorite players before going, actually), and I have told others that I would not be surprised if he left the club soon due to his treatment. In fact, I've said that he probably should leave the club if the situation doesn't change.

In signing his contract, he's also said all the right things:
"I am very happy to sign a long-term contract with Liverpool because, as I’ve always said, I am very happy here and my family are happy in Liverpool. I will keep working because I am a Liverpool soldier and when Liverpool need me, I try to give my best. I am happy to stay as a Scouser!" (http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/194075-sakho-i-m-a-liverpool-soldier-and-a-scouser)

I've seen and read a lot of club interviews, and this one doesn't seem to be the same canned lines that all footballers read once they've been handed a big check. This feels genuine, as Sakho has been known to speak over the course of his career. Being perfectly honest, Liverpool need this man in the squad right now, not only for his footballing ability, but also for his mentality and his leadership. Especially now that Henderson is out for another two months, Sakho's leadership on the pitch will be even more crucial.

One can only hope that Rodgers has seen the light and slots him into the backline immediately.

Mamadou "Kirikou" Sakho - Page 6 Sakhobordeauxpoint

Mamadou "Kirikou" Sakho - Page 6 Sakhobordeauxpoint

by Unique Sat Sep 19, 2015 3:04 pm

donttreadonred wrote:

I can't begin to express how happy I am that this man signed his new contract. Up to this point, Rodgers had seemed to be doing everything he could to force Mamadou out of the club: limiting his starts, dropping him at the first opportunity, consistently selecting two inferior players over him, and subsequently causing him to be dropped from a France team that honestly needs his composure and leadership at the back.

As you can probably tell from my comments above, he is one of my favorite players at the club (was one of my favorite players before going, actually), and I have told others that I would not be surprised if he left the club soon due to his treatment. In fact, I've said that he probably should leave the club if the situation doesn't change.

In signing his contract, he's also said all the right things:
"I am very happy to sign a long-term contract with Liverpool because, as I’ve always said, I am very happy here and my family are happy in Liverpool. I will keep working because I am a Liverpool soldier and when Liverpool need me, I try to give my best. I am happy to stay as a Scouser!" (http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/194075-sakho-i-m-a-liverpool-soldier-and-a-scouser)

I've seen and read a lot of club interviews, and this one doesn't seem to be the same canned lines that all footballers read once they've been handed a big check. This feels genuine, as Sakho has been known to speak over the course of his career. Being perfectly honest, Liverpool need this man in the squad right now, not only for his footballing ability, but also for his mentality and his leadership. Especially now that Henderson is out for another two months, Sakho's leadership on the pitch will be even more crucial.

One can only hope that Rodgers has seen the light and slots him into the backline immediately.

by iftikhar Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:17 pm

Liverpool Echo wrote:Mamadou Sakho is seeing a consultant today as Liverpool wait for confirmation over how long the defender will be sidelined.
A scan on Monday eased fears that the France international had ruptured his ACL but it did reveal ligament damage to his right knee.
The initial estimate is that Sakho will be ruled out for around two months - meaning he won’t play again until early 2016. However, the exact time scale will only be known once the consultant has assessed Sakho today and made a decision over the best course of treatment.

by Art Morte Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:22 pm

Damn, I was hoping he'd make the busy Christmas period. Well, still hoping, but Lovren / Toure playing feels depressing.

by Lucifer Tue Nov 10, 2015 5:26 pm

Whts wrong with this club every gud performer geting injured. Let klopp have full fledged team for once ffs

by Helmer Tue Nov 10, 2015 6:46 pm

Klopp will improve Lovren 10 folds but we would still miss his passes in midfield !

by iftikhar Fri Jan 15, 2016 1:00 pm

I guess he needs a bit of time to return to full fitness after the injury. But he has been pretty average in last couple of games.

by Art Morte Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:44 pm

He is sometimes too active or active in the wrong way and gets caught out of position. And sometimes he doesn't see the whole picture, isn't aware enough of what's going on around him. I just wish he'd stay fit now, playing a lot of games should bring him routine and improvement.

by donttreadonred Sat Jan 16, 2016 2:23 pm

Art Morte wrote:He is sometimes too active or active in the wrong way and gets caught out of position. And sometimes he doesn't see the whole picture, isn't aware enough of what's going on around him. I just wish he'd stay fit now, playing a lot of games should bring him routine and improvement.

This is precisely what he needs. When on form, Sakho is one of the best CBs in the league. His issue: he has trouble regaining form after injuries, and he has picked up a fair number of injuries over the last 2 and 1/2 seasons. It feels as though every time he begins to come into his own, he picks up a knock, causing him to sit out a game or two. This resets the cycle, and sets him back to regaining form. Quite frustrating for a player that could be so good for our defense.

by Curtinho Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:22 am

When has Sakho ever really shown the form to be one of the best CBs in the league though? You can claim almost any CB in the game can have a commanding performance once in a blue moon, but I'm sorry the hype that Sakho gets from Liverpool fans is way over the top. He is incredibly inconsistent, and even though he is really talented he has never had a long stretch of good games with Liverpool.

He seems like a great person off the field, but to be honest he's extremely overhyped. On top of being inconsistent in general his penchant for getting injured doesn't help either.

I dunno, I just don't see it with Sakho long term. I think we need someone more reliable (in terms of consistency of performance and health) if we want them to anchor our backline. I assume Matip is going to be looked at as one part of that puzzle. I don't think Sakho is the other piece.

But the favoritism and bias shown toward Sakho compared to our other CBs who get roasted on a daily basis when Sakho has been as inconsistent (if not moreso) and has had some real stinkers is just a bit much.

by Art Morte Mon Jan 25, 2016 9:34 am

Yeah, he is inconsistent.

He's got some really good ability in the air, in the tackle, is strong and quick enough, too, can find some good passes forward... But he gets caught in the moment too often, what I said just a couple of posts ago, commits himself into action without thinking what's going on around him.

He doesn't need to become better in one-on-one defending, but he would need to learn read the game better and think before acting. Because he really is acting right in the moment for the full 90 minutes, but a defender without anticipation will never become a great defender.

by McAgger Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:13 pm

We do overhype him slightly in reality. It's been difficult to judge him so far because he's been partnered up in some bad and unbalanced partnerships (as well as playing in horrible defensive team structures), Skrtel being the main culprit. Kolo aging and being mistake prone as well, and Lovren not finding his feet until Klopp and even still being a very average player.

But even then, in all of those partnerships, he also made plenty of mistakes. There are some games where he looks like an absolute monster which gives you the indication if he was to be partnered up someone decent that compliments him well he could very well be special.

We're definitely bringing in a CB (RCB) in in the summer (most likely Matip and I'm all for this) to partner Sakho/Lovren (the two CB's we're most likely keeping).

Kolo (contract runs out), Caulker (loan ends), and Skrtel (hopefully) will all be gone.

We'll have Ilori and Joe Gomez as CB depth, which I think is really good depth with these two youngsters getting minutes to hopefully develop to one day partner each other.

Matip, Sakho, Lovren, Ilori, and Gomez sounds very good as long as Matip turns out to be a real *bleep* beast and compliments Sakho and Lovren.

I'd personally love to get rid of Lovren as well regardless of how well some of you think he's doing and bring in 2 really quality CBs. One starter (Matip) and one to challenge Sakho.

Matip, XXX, Sakho, Ilori, Gomez sounds even better to me as long as the 2 players coming in are an improvement to what is shipped out.

Having a good defense though will NOT only depend on these guys, but also largely depend on GK and fullbacks and midfield protection and even defending from the front as well.

So chopping and changing personnel in CB department won't matter if your fullback is Moreno and your GK is Mignolet and you have Hendo and Can as your starting midfield pairing not providing an ounce of coverage, and you got Benteke lumping his way up top.

by Art Morte Mon Jan 25, 2016 12:29 pm

I'm not convinced "forming a good partnership" with someone is going to happen with Sakho. His problem is poor decision-making and lack of anticipation and awareness, those are very individual problems that no partnership will fix.

I'd rate him as a good, 8/10 center-back right now, but unless he improves his game intelligence he's always going to have that mistake, that caught-off-guard moment in him, no matter who he's playing with.

by Curtinho Mon Jan 25, 2016 1:58 pm

I think 8/10 is pretty generous given you can probably count the number of very good games he's had for Liverpool on one hand. In fact he's definitely had more really bad games than really good ones for us. His NT performances bring up his reputation quite a bit, but there is a LOT of cover defensively on the French NT and they play quite a bit differently than what we're set up to do. The issue obviously isn't that he is lacking in talent, because he's very talented.

Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he loses out to Matip/Lovren next season due to a combination of form/injury and even just general performance. Lovren has shown more in the PL than Sakho has, and arguably has better physical tools. If he can continue his progression under Klopp he'll no doubt be the better player, IMO.

Also not sure about the slagging on Henderson/Can defensively. Henderson especially provides plenty of cover to the defence and Can does as well when he's not knackered or loses concentration. Can is an experience/fitness thing (he always seems to have worse 2nd half of games) I would imagine.

by McAgger Mon Jan 25, 2016 9:07 pm

No self respecting defense that gets ample cover from midfield conceding an average of 45-50 goals a season.

Outside of working hard and running and pressing Hendo doesn't have any defensive qualities in a midfielder.

by Adit Mon Jan 25, 2016 9:26 pm

You plays lucas-henderson-can-milner and still conceded bucket load of goals. That is as much defensive protection any defence can get from their midfielders.

Thing is Sakho is a one on one defender ,a stopper. He isn't that good at reading plays that is going to happen behind him but has the ability to read what is going to happen infront of him. That's why he often steps out of defence to intercept some of the moves but often look bad near to box when some one is going to run behind him. He needs a brain defender as partner. Like France fielding the braniac Varane with him. That way Sakho can do what he does best and Varane will take care of the rest.

by sportsczy Tue Jan 26, 2016 6:40 am

Every time he's been paired with Varane or Koscielny on NT, he's been sensational. In fact, the few times he got to play with Silva at PSG, he was really good (which is one reason people were shocked he got sold in favor of Alex).

So his performances at Liverpool really surprise me.

I think he lost a lot of confidence because Rogers' system was really ill-suited for him. If you have him defend close to the box all the time, he can't be aggressive... and that's his best attribute.

I think he'll do much better under Klopp once he gets himself going again... playing high and aggressive should be a dream for him. Of course, on NT and PSG, he had WC partners covering him so he could take chances confidently. That will play into it too.

by Red Alert Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:12 am

Adit wrote:You plays lucas-henderson-can-milner and still conceded bucket load of goals. That is as much defensive protection any defence can get from their midfielders.

Thing is Sakho is a one on one defender ,a stopper. He isn't that good at reading plays that is going to happen behind him but has the ability to read what is going to happen infront of him. That's why he often steps out of defence to intercept some of the moves but often look bad near to box when some one is going to run behind him. He needs a brain defender as partner. Like France fielding the braniac Varane with him. That way Sakho can do what he does best and Varane will take care of the rest.

I don't think I can agree with anything you just said.

All he needs defensive organisation and a little confidence. The players around him are meh, and he's getting no support from midfield.

He's also just came back from injury.

He'll come good. Apart from Clyne, there's not one player in this Liverpool squad who's been consistent. And Clyne's not doing anything spectacular.

by Adit Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:51 am

Lovren has looked much better than Sakho under Klopp. Blaming everything on team mates is rather shifting blame.

I don't get this support from midfield argument. You plays 2 DMs one ball winner and one defensive winger yet complains about lack of midfield covering. Klopp must be doing something horribly wrong then.

by Art Morte Tue Jan 26, 2016 10:54 am

The mistakes Sakho has been making have been down to himself, not the teammates.

But to not go overboard with his criticism, he's also done good things. Most of the time he plays well. If he could just improve his concentration and awareness, he'd be brilliant.

by McAgger Tue Jan 26, 2016 11:14 am

Adit wrote:
I don't get this support from midfield argument. You plays 2 DMs one ball winner and one defensive winger yet complains about lack of midfield covering. Klopp must be doing something horribly wrong then.

Which 2 DMs?

Can is NOT a DM. Not even close. He's very inexperienced on top of this. Lucas is in the worst run of form at Liverpool since he signed for us and his legs seemed to have gone since he looks less athletic than 40 year old Carragher.

Hendo and Milner have zero defensive qualities outside of pressing, hard work, and grit.

We provide very weak midfield protection due to the personnel. THe LCB (Sakho) primarily is also exposed to risk from his fullback as Moreno is the worst defensive fullback in the league. Clyne at least provides decent cover for the RCB.

And then on top of all of this you have one of the most timid GK's (whose only good quality is shotstopping and he's been in terrible form even at that) in the league. Mignolet does not leave his line to save his life. He does not lessen the pressure from set pieces for his defenders. He doesn't command his box. Awful GK to play with for CBs.

by Curtinho Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:58 pm

I don't think you understand what defensive qualities are if you think Milner and Henderson (more Henderson than Milner since Milner often plays higher up anyway) have zero defensive qualities, and then list pressing, hard work and grit. They're both great at eliminating space, taking away passing options, limiting time on the ball and in Henderson's case he gets back to defend in the box quite often (watch the Norwich game and see how the defence gets caught sleeping on runs into the box while Henderson is marking the guy with the ball very deep often enough).

Henderson and Can provide plenty of cover to our defence. Especially when you have a team that plays a high line and expects it's players to press hard. Henderson and Can often give the other team no space, and are constantly closing them down off the ball breaking up attacks and turning it around. The plus with Henderson is he is more experienced and doesn't get caught on the ball or give the ball away as much as Can does.

Watch the games against United, Arsenal, Leicester, Sunderland, etc. just to see examples of how much support Hendo and Can provide the defence. When we've been blown out the biggest culprits have been individual defensive/keeper errors and Lucas has been in really poor form.

But like you said Moreno is a shambles (though Lovren didn't get that defence from you last season, unsurprisingly) and Mignolet is Mignolet (5 more years yay). We need a better leftback, a better keeper and our CBs need to be more consistent (all of them). I don't see an issue with the cover and support from midfield atm outside of Lucas who has lost the plot lately.

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