Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has slammed Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane for their role in the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Neither player was really able to impact the match in a positive way, and in the absence of the injured Mo Salah, Jurgen Klopp’s men often looked like a spent attacking force.
And Nicole, speaking on ESPN, was quick to criticise.
He said: “Sometimes you can get away with it if you have Firmino and Mane at their best.
“But Firmino and Mane were way short of the mark.
“We all talk about Firmino and how he ties everything together, but everything fell apart when the ball went near him.
“Look, not a good day, but they definitely missed Salah.”
OPINION
This certainly wasn’t the finest hour for Firmino and Mane, and it’s fair to say that Nicol is on the money with his assessment here. For two players who are usually so lethal, both stars were fairly anonymous at Old Trafford, and it, amongst other things, nearly cost them dearly. In fairness to Mane, he did a fair amount of buzzing around, making three key passes and having two successful dribbles, as per Whoscored, but there was little in the way of incisiveness or end product from the Senegalese international. Similarly, Firmino managed four shots, as per Whoscored, but lacked any real creativity in terms of building attacks. It could have been a whole lot worse, but this was neither player’s finest hour.
