This was something we all knew:
When a substitution was needed, it was easier to take Bobby off than to upset either of the other two.
There were many times when one of them when one of them would put in an awful performance, yet would seem to be immune from being substituted. All of us remember matches when it would make no sense that one of them wasn’t coming off.
It was very rarely spoken about, but there was no doubt that Mo and Mane had a bit of a rocky relationship.
Around 2020, Mane basically stopped celebrating goals. Even when he scored, his emotions were extremely muted. Some people thought it was due to his religion and trying to be modest, but it was fairly obvious there was more to it. You could often see Bobby trying to get Mane to celebrate goals and joke with him when he scored. The thing was, Bobby kept getting injured so he couldn’t play that role in the team as often.
In the end, if nothing else, it shows the level of professionalism within the squad and the brilliance of Klopp. Even with stuff going on in the background, none of this nonsense leaked out and the team generally speaking performed at a high level. When we had our dips, they were easy to explain and almost always down to injuries and a lack of transfers.
I ageee. Also If we had won the champions league in 2022, Mane would’ve probably deservedly or not won the Ballon d’or. I think the toxicity between the two of them would’ve reached an apogee if that occurred.
RIP Bobby Firmino