Like Kobe Bryant, Mané and Salah Will Shrug Off Misses, Says Jürgen Klopp

Mo Salah, Kobe Bryant and Sadio Mané. Composite: Getty Images
Mo Salah, Kobe Bryant and Sadio Mané. Composite: Getty Images
TT

Like Kobe Bryant, Mané and Salah Will Shrug Off Misses, Says Jürgen Klopp

Mo Salah, Kobe Bryant and Sadio Mané. Composite: Getty Images
Mo Salah, Kobe Bryant and Sadio Mané. Composite: Getty Images

Jürgen Klopp believes Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah will follow the example of Kobe Bryant by showing the best can cope with failure and using their misses to spur them on.

Mané has gone nine games without scoring and spurned a golden chance when he blazed over the bar in Liverpool’s defeat at Leicester on Tuesday, while Salah missed a penalty in the Premier League for the first time since 2017.

But Klopp, who will not be on the touchline at Chelsea on Sunday after testing positive for Covid, argued that disappointment is something elite sportsmen encounter more often than lesser players because of their bravery in taking responsibility time and again and getting into the positions to miss. He cited how Bryant, who scored the fourth-most points in the NBA, holds the record for most missed shots, 14,481.

“Top, top, top-class players deal constantly with failure,” Klopp said. “That’s our life. That’s what you learn pretty early as a footballer. The better you are, the more often you will fail because you come constantly in these decisive moments.

“None of us has ever succeeded in all difficult situations. That’s how it is. Kobe Bryant is still the player with the most missed situations in NBA history and he is one of the greatest players ever.

“You have to try it. You have to come in these situations and then you can fail. If you fail there, no problem, go again and everything will be fine. That is pretty much the mindset Mo is in and Sadio as well.”

Salah and Mané will make their final appearances before going to the African Cup of Nations but with a very different backdrop. Whereas the Senegalese has equalled his longest drought for Liverpool, the Egyptian has been directly involved in an unrivalled 24 goals in the Premier League this season.

As Klopp accepted, Salah rarely needs to respond to major setbacks. “We don’t have a lot of experience with Mo of dealing with ‘crisis’ or whatever because he didn’t have to,” he said.

“The penalty just makes him more greedy to score a goal in the game, usually, and if we bring him more often in promising situations then I am pretty sure he would have finished one of them off.”

Mané has not scored any of Liverpool’s past 25 goals but does have a propensity to deliver goals in fits and spurts and Klopp is convinced his latest barren run will end. “Sadio has no problem with confidence, but the momentum finishing-wise is not there at the moment,” he said.

“Pretty much all strikers have to go through these kind of things. You have to take it from time to time and then it will be good again. It happened to Sadio before and he came out of it. He scored incredibly important goals for us and I’m really positive that he has chances to score [today].”

His belief that Mané is performing well was supported by the footage compiled by one of his backroom staff when he got a welcome surprise on Friday. “One of our analysts knocks on my door and asks if I have two minutes.” Klopp said. “He made a video to show Sadio how much he contributes to our game and how good he is at the moments, how good he is there and in situations.

“The intention was to show he should not be too worried that the finishing is not there at the moment. He’s still an incredibly important player for us. That is the view we have on him.”



Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr Eyes Asian Glory amid Revitalized Saudi Pro League Campaign

Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #7 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Nassr and Al-Qadsia at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #7 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Nassr and Al-Qadsia at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
TT

Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr Eyes Asian Glory amid Revitalized Saudi Pro League Campaign

Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #7 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Nassr and Al-Qadsia at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh on November 22, 2024. (AFP)
Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #7 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Nassr and Al-Qadsia at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh on November 22, 2024. (AFP)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of winning a first major trophy since arriving in Saudi Arabia in 2022 were given an unlikely domestic lifeline on Saturday and, on Monday, the Portuguese star can help Al-Nassr stay on course for a first Asian title.

Ronaldo scored his seventh goal of the season against Al-Qadsia on Friday in a battle against Spanish defender Nacho but his former Real Madrid teammate was celebrating at the final whistle.

“It was a different and difficult game against Ronaldo,” Nacho said. “He is my friend and I had the best part of my career playing with him but here we have a different experience and are playing for different teams. It was an honor to play against him.”

Al-Nassr looked to be slipping out of the Saudi Pro League (SPL) title race. Al-Hilal, unbeaten in 46 league games, would have gone nine points clear on Saturday with a win against Al-Khaleej but despite leading 2-0, Hilal fell to a shock 3-2 defeat, a first since May 2023.

“We knew that the victories would not continue because this is football,” said Hilal forward Marcos Leonardo. “We have to work and achieve victory in the next match in the AFC Champions League Elite.”

Saudi Arabian clubs have yet to lose in the western zone of the Asian competition — the 24 teams in the tournament are divided into two groups of 12 with eight from each progressing to the Round of 16 after playing eight matches — and occupy the top three spots.

Al-Nassr is third with ten points from four games and will be almost certain of a place in the next round if it defeats Al-Gharafa of Qatar.

Al-Hilal, a four-time champion and top of the group with four wins, also travels to Qatar to face 2011 winner Al-Sadd. Unlike SPL games, Neymar is eligible to play in Asian competitions but the Brazilian is still recovering from the injury sustained against Esteghlal of Iran earlier in November.

Al-Ahli of Jeddah is second with the maximum 12 points and faces defending champion Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates. Al-Ain is bottom of the group and lost 5-4 to Hilal and then 5-1 to Nassr, defeats which cost Hernan Crespo his job as head coach earlier in November. The Argentine has been replaced by Leonardo Jardim, the Portuguese boss who led Al-Hilal to the 2021 continental title.

In the eastern zone, there is another former champion in 12th and last place. Ulsan HD, winner in 2012 and 2020, has lost all four games. Ulsan has just won a third successive South Korean title and needs to defeat newly-crowned Chinese champion Shanghai Port to keep chances of the second round alive.

Australia’s sole representative Central Coast Mariners is also in need of victory as it has just one point. The A-League team however has a daunting trip to Japan to face group leader Vissel Kobe.