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In Profile: What Sakho brings to LFC

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LiverpoolFINALLY, the transfer window closed on Monday as Liverpool made three signings on Deadline Day in the forms of Mamadou Sakho, Tiago Ilori and Victor Moses.

Of all the signings, I thought I would give an insight into our new defender Mamadou Sakho.

Background

Sakho started his career at semi-professional club FC Paris as a striker and spent 6 years with them before joining rivals Paris Saint- Germain in 2002. His performances for the youth team as a defender earned him a call up to the first team.  Mamadou was made captain on his debut, making him the youngest player ever to captain a Ligue 1 club after wearing the armband in the club’s 0–0 draw with Valenciennes at the age of 17 and 8 months in 2007. He played 12 times that season at left-back.

He went on to grow in stature as a central defender and played along side Zoumana Camara or Sylvain Armand. His exploits in the 2010-2011 season did not go unnoticed as he went on to win the French Young Player of the Year award and was also named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year.

In the 2011-2012 season, Mamadou was reinstalled as club captain after the retirement of Claude Makelele but spent time on the treatment table due to injury. Sadly his game time was limited to substitute appearances or cup competitions when Thiago Silva and Alex, formerly of Chelsea, joined the French side.

During his time with the club he won the Ligue 1 title in 2012-2013, Coupe de France in 2009/2010, the Coupe de la Ligue 2007/2008 and Trophée des Champions in 2013. He played in total 196 times scoring 7 goals.

He has a wealth of European and international experience playing for the French national team .

Last season Paris Saint-Germain tallied 17 clean sheets in Ligue 1 in the 27 games that Sakho featured in.

Style of play

Mamadou is known for his leadership credentials, his tireless engine, hard-working attitude, and his tackling ability. He has also been praised for his physical and tactical qualities. Sakho is blessed with pace and his physical build and aggression make him a winner on and off the field.

He is left footed but can play as a left or right sided central defender as well as a left back. Along with his aggression and undeniable strength in the air, Sakho has been mentioned to be one of the most intelligent young defenders in the game. His reading of the game is that of a seasoned veteran and his positional sense is quite remarkable for someone so young. Very rarely is Sakho caught out of position and on the rare occasion he is, he uses his pace and acceleration to great effect to recover his ground.

BREAKDOWN OF MAMADOU SAKHO PERFORMANCE LAST SEASON<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
Sakho: 27 appearances, 1148 passes completed (92% accuracy) 70% tackles won, 76% headed duels won (84/110),169 clearances, 44 interceptions, 2 goals scored</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<p>Stats courtesy of www.squaka.com</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
<p>

Sakho is an imposing defender. However, despite being strong in the tackle and seemingly unbeatable in the air at times, he has an air of elegance and likes to play football which is one of reasons that Rodgers was looking at the 6ft 2” 23 year old centre-back.

The £15 million price tag may seem steep but Sakho is just the kind of defender Liverpool needed and will offer the strength in depth for the squad and gives Brendan options in defence. We now have quality in that area of the field and healthy competition for places is always good for the team.

Hopefully when Mamadou is called upon by Brendan Rodgers he can show the fans just how good he is and that he will be a name on the team-sheet for many years to come.

Welcome to Liverpool Mamadou hope your Anfield career is a successful one.

Follow me on Twitter @MRSSG

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I am a lifelong Liverpool supporter from Huyton Liverpool just like Stevie G and go all over the world supporting my team I go the games in my wheelchair as I suffer from Cerebral Palsy however that does not stop me having a ball cheering on the World’s Best Team.
I write a weekly column talking about various topics whether that is tactical analysis of matches, opinion pieces, looking through the archives of previous matches, former players and current articles on Brendan and the first team.
It is great being part of the first class writing team at Live4liverpool.com and bucking the trend in being the first woman to write for the site.
Follow me on Twitter @MRSSG to keep up to date with my articles. Y.N.W.A

13 comments

  • ezw says:

    we cant help but encourage him.we have always needed a solid back four

  • Ali says:

    Liverpool FCC is the best and we are going to win the title

  • labaran says:

    Welcome to liverpool mamadou never walk alone.YNWA

  • Muhammad inuwa madugu says:

    We are pry to god to hlp liverpool to win a leage ths yrs ameen

  • Ebuka says:

    A towering defender at that, known to some of us before now. a reminiscent of Carra
    Y N W A

  • Ahmed zaki says:

    strong centre backs r as important as talented strikers r. welcome sakho NYWA

  • Palo from Nigeria says:

    welcome mamadou

  • Abdirizak says:

    Having signed 8 high quality players I believe we can win the title this if we keep winning and aviod error specially defence errors those put us back.

  • Prince UB Okeke says:

    Mammodu Sakho u’re welcome to the worship centre “ANFIELD”. Wishing u a successful & injury-free career. YNWA.

  • k says:

    shako, llori,traore & Cissoko + agger + wisdom +skertel + enrique + johnson + kelly
    Complete deffensive line and we not worry about that.

    Lucas , coady , allen
    This is very critical point. Get 1 more player and fit with lucas. ( Wnyama ,Matuidi or Diame )

    Luis Alberto, Coutinho, Gerrard, Suso, Sterling,Assaidi, Henderson
    We can add 1 more talented attacking mid and if we get ben arfa its a great.

    Moses,suarez,aspas,borini,sturridge
    cool player at the striker. if suarez gone.. reds must get 1 more prolific player. ( jackson martinez or falcao or costa )

  • Berhane says:

    He will be the perfect jigsaw next season. It is a matter of time.

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