Mamadou Sakho at Liverpool Football Club is the perfect imperfect storm.
The player is a talented footballer and on his day a very good defender. He is strong, athletic, committed and underrated with the ball at his feet. In fact, some of the criticism about his technique verges on lazy stereotype. His gait is hardly graceful and so it sometimes belies his competence on the ball. He also a natural leader, with his passionate displays and constant cajoling of others.
That said, he is fallible. His decision-making isn’t always the best and he sometimes exhibits the temperament of a more attacking player, in that his form can peak and dip depending on his confidence. When his chin is up, he can look imperious and commanding, but too often a mistake can lead to nervous, erratic play. There are lesser footballers out there who are more reliable defenders.
@LFC #TweetToMeet #Sakho Because… I mean look at this guy. Who doesn't love him?!?!? 👍🏼👍🏼 pic.twitter.com/7Vp4y4qaaM
— Jangwook (@jangwookLFC) July 25, 2016
All that is of course subjective. It’s a personal opinion that is open to conjecture and disagreement. The hope is that it is at least balanced and dispassionate, even if very wrong. But with Sakho, it seems you can’t have an opinion – balanced or otherwise – without upsetting a whole swath of Liverpool supporters. And if you’re a Liverpool fan offering the opinion, well heaven help you.
The 26-year-old Frenchman elicits such strong sentiments that any discussion about the pros and cons of his play become clouded in bias. The problem is that as a player and as a man, Sakho is irresistible in so many ways. It goes beyond merely being the type of gung-ho proactive presence that fans are naturally drawn to. Mamadou has very quickly become something of a cult phenomenon.
On the pitch he is all-action and dramatic movements – the effort he puts into every game is extremely obvious (although some would argue that better players don’t show their working quite as readily, as nothing becomes ‘last ditch’). Off the pitch, Sakho comes across as incredible fun. His lust for life and good humour is infectious, and he has the kind of charisma that is rare in the modern footballer.
https://twitter.com/FutbolsaCountry/status/751486743149436928
If such qualities lend themselves to cult hero worship, then the fact he plays for Liverpool magnifies them. A great number of their supporters are knowledgeable, reasonable and pragmatic, but perhaps more than any other English side, they have a fiercely partisan element that will attack anyone who dares criticise their favoured stars with the ferocity of an overly-protective mum at a play centre birthday party.
In a funny way, the whole ‘failed’ drugs test thing only galvanised these emotions. Sakho was of course cleared of any wrong-doing, but nevertheless he was forced to sit out a crucial period of the season. It led to his fans not only rallying around their man (as of course they should), but in some cases elevating his importance to the team in his absence.
Such uber-loyal support can be as much of a hindrance as a help. The problem with siege mentality is that if it becomes too entrenched, it can lead to a bubble of mutual validation. Any outsider criticising your players is just being anti-you, and even those brave souls in your own support who disagree are ‘pandering’ and ‘not real fans’. An alternative reality can be built on paranoia, blinkeredness and unconditional love.
Mamadou Sakho sent home from #LFC pre-season tour over concerns about his attitude https://t.co/KJRHiLFBsr
— Richard Buxton (@RichardBuxton_) July 26, 2016
Of course not everyone who rates Sakho is some irrational idiot. He is still in his mid-twenties and is already an established performer; he has shown that with the right partner he can flourish. However, his meme-friendly koala-loving, paint brush-wiedling, wacky Snapchattery all play a part in inflating his cult beyond his actual abilities. There’s a mischievous charm about him that invites adulation.
But perhaps that is part of the problem. It’s no good saying that Sakho has this to his game and that to his game and all the potential in the world if he never has the focus to join the dots. The fact that Jurgen Klopp has dismissed him for Liverpool’s pre-season tour is something of a concern. He was already an injured passenger, and yet he has been banished whilst other crocks remain for the sake of team cohesion.
It is a testament to Klopp’s standing and his own popularity amongst Liverpool fans that the news has been received with unease rather than fume by the club’s more ‘ardent’ fans. Everyone appreciates what the German is trying to build at the club and so are willing to trust him on this one – even if many are dismayed at the potential falling out of two of their favourite Anfield personalities.
🎥 We gave @mamadousakho a GoPro for #LFC's tour of Alcatraz & the final video is brillianthttps://t.co/c8RuP3IFqHhttps://t.co/JtaJXE2DMV
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 23, 2016
By now everyone has seen the ominous clip of Sakho jokily interrupting Jurgen Klopp’s interview, with the manager reacting with annoyance veiled by laughter. Although the tardiness to which Klopp alludes in his reaction is surely more of a factor in sending the player home than the actual video, it probably wasn’t the brightest thing for Sakho to do after already annoying his boss.
But then that’s Sakho all over, isn’t it? He’s such a card. Given the choice, he’d be near the top of a list of players you’d love to go on a night out with – it would be a hoot. Unfortunately he wouldn’t figure quite as high on the neutrals’ list of defenders they’d want in their team. Not that it matters what neutrals want, as long as Liverpool fans are happy. And maybe they’re content with their perfectly imperfect hero.
A lot of pressure to put on Sakho giving him the same number just previously worn by a club legend. He'll cope tho pic.twitter.com/doPVMOgOYB
— Jordan (@Legend0fZeus) July 18, 2016
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