Former Liverpool midfielder Steve Nicol has claimed that Sadio Mane is "lucky" to play in a system like Jurgen Klopp's and believes that the Senegal winger cannot yet be considered as good as club legend John Barnes.
Mane has been arguably the standout performer in Liverpool's record-breaking 2019-20 campaign so far, directly contributing to 30 goals across all competitions and helping to take the Reds to the brink of a first top-flight title in 30 years.
Nicol believes that the 28-year-old benefits from not having as many defensive duties as other wingers, and insists that he still has some way to go to surpass Barnes as arguably Liverpool's greatest ever left-winger.
"I think Sadio Mane is lucky the way Liverpool play. His job is pretty much to stay on one half of the field. Yes, he does come back and help out defensively every now and again, but generally he's told to stay in the attacking half of the field and go at defenders," Nicol told ESPN.
"Now Barnesy, with the ball at his feet dribbling, at his best, was better than Mane. Unfortunately for Barnesy he had to do a lot more work in a game because one of his responsibilities was to defend, to get back behind the ball and be in a defensive position.
"As great as Sadio Mane is, John Barnes is one of the best players I have ever played with – and I've played with a lot of good players at Liverpool. Barnesy was absolutely fantastic, unplayable sometimes – actually, most of the time until he unfortunately tore his Achilles and that curtailed him a little. Before that, absolute lights out."
Mane is the front-runner to win the PFA Player of the Year award this season.
Barney Corkhill
