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
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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.”



Alcaraz Struggles with Stomach Issue in Loss to Ruud at ATP Finals

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz waves to his fans at the end of the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Norway's Casper Ruud, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz waves to his fans at the end of the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Norway's Casper Ruud, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
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Alcaraz Struggles with Stomach Issue in Loss to Ruud at ATP Finals

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz waves to his fans at the end of the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Norway's Casper Ruud, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz waves to his fans at the end of the singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Norway's Casper Ruud, at the Inalpi Arena, in Turin, Italy, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Carlos Alcaraz struggled with a stomach issue and looked far from the player who won two Grand Slams this year while losing to Casper Ruud 6-1, 7-5 at the ATP Finals in Turin on Monday.
It marked Ruud’s first victory over Alcaraz in five career meetings, and the result could make it difficult for Alcaraz to advance from the round-robin stage at the season-ending event for the top eight players.
“I didn’t feel well on court,” Alcaraz said. “A few days before coming here, I got sick at home. ... This morning, I feel uncomfortable in the stomach.”
In the same group, Alexander Zverev began his bid for a third ATP Finals title by beating Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4.
The top two finishers from each group advance to the semifinals.
On Sunday, top-ranked Jannik Sinner and US Open finalist Taylor Fritz beat Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev, respectively, in the other group.
Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon to boost his career total to four Grand Slam titles. But he also struggled at the Paris Masters recently and dropped behind Zverev to No. 3 in the rankings this week.
“I have no experience playing on indoor courts,” The Associated Press quoted Alcaraz as saying. “I’ll be a really good player on indoor courts, I’m sure about it. But I think it’s about time, about getting experience. ... A lot of players are better than me on indoor court.”
Ruud reached the 2021 semifinals and 2022 final in his first two appearances at the finals. But he has struggled recently, too, losing his first or second match in his last seven events.
“I’m not full of confidence,” Ruud said. “A match like today might be able to change it.”
Alcaraz was broken when he served for the second set at 5-4.
Alcaraz led 25-16 in winners but committed 26 unforced errors to Ruud’s 10.
Ruud converted all four of his break points while Alcaraz was just one of six in that category.
“I’m tired mentally," Alcaraz said. "Obviously a lot of matches, really tight schedule, really demanding year with not too many days off.”
Zverev rolling after Paris Masters title Zverev, who won the finals in 2018 in London and 2021 in Turin, extended his winning streak to six matches following a title run at the Paris Masters.
Rublev is making his fifth consecutive appearance at the finals but hasn’t won a match at the event since 2022.
Zverev served nine aces and dropped only 10 points on his serve in 10 service games.
“He served wide 220 (kph) on the deuce side,” Rublev said. "Normally everybody serves slice and it’s 190. He find(s) a way to serve 220 wide on the deuce side. It’s not easy.
“Even if you catch the direction, when the flat serve comes 227, slice serve comes 219, 215, it’s tough to just see the ball.”
Sinner receives No. 1 trophy Before the Zverev-Rublev match, Sinnner received the trophy for finishing the year at No. 1 in the rankings.
“There’s no place better to celebrate this trophy,” Sinner said as his mom, Siglinde, looked on in tears. “Thanks for all of your support.”
Sinner is playing at home for the first time since it was announced before his US Open title that he tested positive in two separate drug tests this year.
A decision to clear Sinner of wrongdoing was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in September. A final ruling in the case is expected early next year.