--- title: "Pace, width and goals – can Liverpool get it right with Mane?" canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/columns/pace-width-and-goals-can-lfc-get-it-right-with-mane/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Paul Arends" section: "Columns" published: "2016-06-28T20:33:29Z" modified: "2016-06-28T20:33:29Z" --- # Pace, width and goals – can Liverpool get it right with Mane? So, Sadio Mane has finally signed on the dotted line to become Liverpool’s new number 19. Whether he is the right player for Liverpool, or whether we’ve paid too much money for him, it remains to be seen, but Liverpool have invested in a player they think will bring them pace, width and goals. Pace, width and goals – this is certainly not the first time that Liverpool have invested heavily in the attributes, but it’s not always worked out exactly as planned. ![David Cannon/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2016/06/1220002.jpg) In my formative years watching the Reds, Liverpool had the perfect player who embodied those three qualities. John Barnes brought pace, width and goals to possibly the greatest ever Liverpool side in 1987/88. As his powers faded and injuries took their toll on his body, Liverpool were lucky enough to unearth a young talent called Steve McManaman who brought similar qualities to the Liverpool sides of the early to mid-nineties, albeit perhaps not quite as much pace, width or goals and more jinky runs, clever through balls and scuffed finishes… Since Barnes, Liverpool have made several attempts to sign a top quality player to add pace, width and goals to elevate themselves into the position of title challengers, and whilst our rivals have been able to attract the likes of Arjen Robben, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marc Overmars and Robert Pires to name a select few, things have often not worked out quite as well for the Reds. The following are some of the good, the bad and the El Hadji Diouf: 1996: Patrik Berger – After a fine showing at EURO 96, and with Liverpool looking to add to some dynamism to their attacking threat, Patrik Berger was signed for £3.25 million from Borussia Dortmund. His second appearance for the Reds resulted in two superb goals against Leicester City and gave Liverpool fans a taste of what they hoped was to come. With a wand of a left foot, Berger was capable of sublime finishes. A fans’ favourite, for sure, but due to reasons such as falling out with Roy Evans, and then suffering a bad injury in November 2000 at Elland Road, his career at Liverpool ultimately didn’t quite hit the heights regularly enough. ![Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2016/06/1279014.jpg) 1998: Sean Dundee – Ok, so he wasn’t signed to add width but he was signed to add pace and goals – especially pace. “Faster than Michael Owen!” That’s what we were told upon his arrival. He wasn’t. He was probably slower than Mark Owen too! He did not bring pace or width. And in 5 Liverpool appearances, he brought zero goals. 1999: Titi Camara / Vladimir Smicer – After the departure of Steve McManaman to Real Madrid, then manager Gerard Houllier began major surgery on the Liverpool squad. Twelve players were sold or released with seven being brought in. Camara was signed to supplement the brilliant but fragile first choice strike force of Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen, whilst Smicer was signed to replace McManaman. It’s probably fair to say that both players performed “in fits and starts”. Both had good moments in a Liverpool shirt, with Smicer contributing significantly to the 2005 Champions League Final win over AC Milan. But neither player ever reached a level of consistency to be considered anything other than a cult hero amongst Liverpool fans. 2002: El Hadji Diouf – This summer – it always makes me very sad when I think about it. Liverpool had just finished second in the Premier League to a very good Arsenal team and the squad required a little bit of work as a few experienced heads were on their way out of Anfield. Gary McAllister, Jari Litmanen, Nick Barmby and Nicolas Anelka had gone, with Patrik Berger and Markus Babbel soon to follow. They were replaced by Abel Xavier, Salif Diao, Bruno Cheyrou and El Hadji Diouf, and it led to arguably the worst year of transfer dealings in Liverpool’s history. Diouf, however, was by some distance the worst of a terrible bunch. At the World Cup in France that summer, he had looked like a superstar, and even on his Anfield debut – a double against Southampton – he looked like he could be the player that took us to another level. In many ways he was. We went from second to fifth in one season, with Diouf contributing a measly 3 league goals in 29 appearances. The following year, he managed to contribute no goals in 26 league appearances – and in his defence, he spent a lot of time on the wing that season – but on the other hand, he was an odious individual known for diving, spitting and a generally terrible attitude. Probably the worst signing Liverpool has ever made. 2003: Harry Kewell – Oh yes! Harry… Harry Keeewwweelll! Harry… Harry Kewell! Signed as a player who would have the fans “on the edge of their seats”. Unfortunately Kewell spent most of his time at Liverpool on the treatment table. He had a promising start to his Liverpool, scoring 8 goals by the end of November 2003. It’s a slightly depressing fact that he would only score a further 8 goals in the rest of his Liverpool career, stretching 4 and a half more seasons. He had some decent games in 2004/5 and actually had a good run of fitness and form in 2005/6 but he will be best remembered for coming off injured in 3 consecutive finals in those seasons. ![Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2016/06/51289124.jpg) 2006: Mark Gonzalez / Jermaine Pennant – That year, Liverpool were on the up. A year on from winning the Champions League and now proud holders of the FA Cup, manager Rafael Benitez spent the summer trying to add pace to the squad. Mark Gonzalez had actually been signed the previous summer, but had been unable to play due to work permit issues. After waiting so long for “Speedy” Gonzalez, his career fizzled out very quickly. A promising debut against Maccabi Haifa was probably the highlight of his Liverpool career. After 36 games and only 3 goals, he departed for Real Betis in the summer of 2007. Jermaine Pennant was a more successful acquisition. Signed to provide pace and width, he was a good outlet for the team and at times looked a very good player. However, he was too happy to stay out wide and his inability to provide any real goal threat proved to be his downfall, 3 goals in 2 seasons tells its own story. 2007: Ryan Babel – He was a funny player, in many ways. He was funny when he was posting mocked up pictures of Howard Webb on Twitter but he was also a total enigma. I’m still not sure if he was actually any good at football. Supposedly quick, but he always seemed to take an age to get into his stride. Capable of sublime pieces of skill and a powerful shot but equally capable of looking like he’d just won a competition to play first team football for Liverpool. He played in a very good Liverpool side with some exceptional players, but in the end he wasn’t good enough. His career post-Liverpool has glaringly shown up his flaws. 2011: Stuart Downing – There are no words. “Liverpool sign Stuart Downing for £20 million!” 12 months later, no league goals, No league assists. From a £20 million winger. He finally scored for Liverpool in the league in December 2012, the following season, against Fulham. He shushed the Kop. Not cool Stuart. Any positives? He was probably better than Charlie Adam.. ![Clint Hughes/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2016/06/120276172.jpg) Since the Downing experiment ended so badly, Liverpool have avoided splashing out big money on pace, width and goals. In January 2013, Brendan Rodgers spent £20 million to purchase both Daniel Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho. This helped his transform his side from languishing in mid-table to serious title contenders the following year. The pace of Sturridge and academy graduate Raheem Sterling, along with the brilliance of Luis Suarez turned us into the most fearsome counter-attacking side in the country. With Sterling playing primarily at the tip of the midfield diamond, the only out and out winger in that squad was Victor Moses – and it’s probably best not to mention him. Liverpool’s current wide players do not naturally provide the kind of pace and width that hopefully Sadio Mane will. Mane has got plenty of predecessors – some relatively successful – but when it comes to buying wide players, Liverpool’s track record in the past 20 years has not been great. As with many of the other players mentioned in this article, Mane is not the finished article yet; he’s not the £50 million superstar that many fans were craving, but we will be hoping for him to develop into that under manager Jurgen Klopp. Let’s hope Sadio proves the Mane doubters wrong.