Excitement is building ahead of Liverpool's hotly-anticipated Premier League clash with Manchester United, and ahead of the game, Sadio Mane has made a bold (and ill-advised) boast about the result.
Speaking to The Telegraph on Saturday, Mane insisted:
"We [Liverpool] are going to beat Manchester United. We all believe it. We are going to make it".
Perhaps I'm in the minority, but this kind of pre-match overconfidence (bordering on arrogance) really bugs me. Players are obviously entitled to think like this, but why triumphantly announce it in public just two days before the game?
Unless United's squad is sequestered in a cave somewhere, Ibrahimovic, Rooney et al will be aware of Mane's boast, and his comment will give them even more desire and motivation to beat Liverpool on Monday.
To add insult to injury, Loris Karius, and Emre Can are also spouting off in the media, claiming that Liverpool are not 'scared' of United, and that the Reds are good enough to contain Pogba and Ibrahimovic.
This may be the case, but comments like this are counter-productive, and Liverpool's players clearly need to learn about the concept of humility. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Whether it's endlessly massaging each others' egos after a good result, claiming the team can win the league after six games, or goading the opposition, Liverpool players just never get it right.
On Monday, Man United will probably have Mane's comments pinned to their dressing room wall as an extra source of motivation.
^ Reportedly on £125k-a-week. Described as electric by Phil Thompson
Speaking to The Telegraph on Saturday, Mane insisted:
"We [Liverpool] are going to beat Manchester United. We all believe it. We are going to make it".
Perhaps I'm in the minority, but this kind of pre-match overconfidence (bordering on arrogance) really bugs me. Players are obviously entitled to think like this, but why triumphantly announce it in public just two days before the game?
Unless United's squad is sequestered in a cave somewhere, Ibrahimovic, Rooney et al will be aware of Mane's boast, and his comment will give them even more desire and motivation to beat Liverpool on Monday.
To add insult to injury, Loris Karius, and Emre Can are also spouting off in the media, claiming that Liverpool are not 'scared' of United, and that the Reds are good enough to contain Pogba and Ibrahimovic.
This may be the case, but comments like this are counter-productive, and Liverpool's players clearly need to learn about the concept of humility. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Whether it's endlessly massaging each others' egos after a good result, claiming the team can win the league after six games, or goading the opposition, Liverpool players just never get it right.
On Monday, Man United will probably have Mane's comments pinned to their dressing room wall as an extra source of motivation.
^ Reportedly on £125k-a-week. Described as electric by Phil Thompson
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