Liverpool look like they’ll soon have a new central defender and his name is Mamadou Sakho. If you watch a lot of European football then the likelihood is you’ll probably know a fair bit about Sakho already. However, I know that not all Liverpool fans are slightly football-obsessed losers like us lot at Read Liverpool, so we’ve decided to write a short piece for you so you can get to know a bit more about are latest French acquisition.
Firstly, let’s get the vital statistics out of the way. Sakho is 23 years old, stands at 6ft 2in and has played 14 times for France. He has also played 151 times for Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 7 goals and he has the tendency to sport some pretty outrageous hairstyles!
Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at his career so far:
When he first broke onto the scene in 2007 aged just 17 years old, there were high hopes for Sakho and he did his upmost to live up to his high expectations. He played well in his debut in a league cup match, and was soon handed his league debut. Not long afterwards, Paul Le Guen made an astonishing decision and made Sakho captain of the team in what was seen as a move to give his current first team players a kick up the arse, for lack of a better phrase. This radical move not only made Sakho the youngest ever captain of PSG, but the youngest player to ever captain a side in Ligue 1. In a way it was a similar story to that of Steven Gerrard, not in terms of age obviously, but in terms of a local lad getting the honour of captaining his hometown club.
So, why has Sakho gone from being the ‘next big thing’ for PSG to a man who has left the Paris-based club? Well, despite performing well for his club for a couple of seasons, the 2011-12 season didn’t go very well for the Frenchman. He suffered with a number of injuries that saw him lose his place in the side, which was far from ideal, especially when some new big spending owners took over the club and began to splash the cash. Due to the cash injection, three Brazilians – Alex, Marquinhos and Thiago Silva – have joined the club, which has meant that Sakho has struggled to get back into the side, and he can something ill afford to be sitting on the bench, especially in a World Cup year.
In terms of playing style, Mamadou Sakho could be described as a blood and thunder, committed, almost typical English-type central defender. He cuts an imposing figure at the back with great physical attributes and is very good in the air, in fact he rarely loses an aerial battle. Sometimes with foreign defenders, you can worry that they may not be up for those infamous ‘wet Wednesday nights at the Britannia’, but that certainly isn’t the case with Sakho who relishes physical contests.
Sakho seems cut out to succeed in England, and those who have been impressed by Sakho’s power, strength and speed have compared him to French defensive legend Lilian Thuram – no pressure there then Mamadou!
Comments.
Loading comments…