[OPINION]: Sane-Mane; A bust up bound to have different consequences than the precursor

In another universe, Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane will be on the international stage fighting for the Senegalese flag at the AFCON, FIFA Confederations Cup or the FIFA World Cup.

After all, Sane is the son of former Senegal international Souleymane Sane who happens to be Senegal’s first ever professional footballer but there they were, trudging off the Etihad pitch, bickering their frustrations at each other before it all came to a head.

Bayern Munich is the biggest club football institution in Germany; for the most part, Bayern is German football. Taking a look at the club’s utter dominance of the Bundesliga and the high number of players who represent the club in the German National Men’s Football team, claiming Bayern Munich is German football is not a farfetched claim.

Mane-Sane

What makes institutions like Bayern the establishment they are is the club’s ability to deal with inevitable controversies that pop up no matter how great the organization is run. This season might be the most controversy filled campaign for Bayern on the back of Julian Nagelsmann’s shock dismissal, Thomas Tuchel’s hire and Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane’s fight that has filled the tabloids.

Compared to what top teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan and AS Roma deal with in Spain, England and Italy respectively, what Bayern has gone through and is going through this season is absolutely nothing.

Heck, Paris Saint-Germain and their owners will take this version of Bayern and celebrate it like winning the long sought after Champions League title considering the type of intense series of incidents that happen on a near weekly basis.

The club’s ultras relationship with Lionel Messi comes to mind  while not forgetting Neymar’s injury induced absences in January and February and Kylian Mbappe’s touchy commitment to the club.

Kylian Mbappe of PSG celebrates his goal between (PSG) and FC Lorient (Credit Image: © Matthieu Mirville/ZUMA Press Wire)

Bayern Munich is boring and certainly doesn’t fit the script for controversy junkies as most Sports Journalists are. But Leroy Sane did end up with a bruised lip after Sadio Mane reportedly punched him in a bust up after a 0-3 loss to Manchester City in the Champions League.

The incident has attracted a $321,595 fine and a suspension that got the Senegal international to miss Bayern’s 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim.

Mane has had a torrid time since recovering from a serious leg injury that ruled him out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup as he has registered just an assist in six league games and generally struggled to play up to his high standards.

Prior to the injury, Mane was getting his feet wet in the Bundesliga following his move from Liverpool as he bagged three assists and six goals in 14 league games.

Physically clashing with Sane was the last thing his campaign needed knowing fully well the consequences are sure to differ from what happened a little over a decade ago.

Before Mane and Sane formed an appealing name tandem, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben formed Robbery and consistently robbed Bundesliga teams of league title wins in their dominant run.

On the European stage, the brilliant duo powered Bayern to the 2013 Champions League title after losing the 2012 Champions League final to Chelsea. In the semifinal against Real Madrid in 2012, a free kick sparked the fracas that had Robben suffer a cut under his eye. Ribery was punished and both players held a “clear the air meeting” and squashed the issue.

Winning the Champions League in the immediate follow up season with both players playing starring roles in the conquest proved Robbery had indeed moved past the incident.

Ribery and Robben played seven seasons after the fight incident before both departed Bayern in 2019 but Mane and Sane won’t share that fate.

Bayern has struggled to replace Robert Lewandowski after the Polish striker joined Barcelona this season. These struggles have fed into Bayern Munich’s inability to create real separation from the rest of the chasing Bundesliga pack with Borussia Dortmund just two points short of Bayern’s 59 point tally.

Osimhen

Getting a top center forward like Harry Kane or Dusan Vlahovic looks to be the biggest priority for Bayern this offseason since Victor Osimhen is primed to join an English Premier League team. Getting either Kane or Vlahovic won’t come cheap and Bayern will need to sell an asset valuable enough to raise funds for such a pricey purchase.

While Mane has generated strong interest from England, reportedly Liverpool, he is 31 years, earns a bigger wage than Sane and is the sort of wing forward who fits Tuchel’s system that relies on a false nine.

Harry Kane

Unlike Mane, Sane is as traditional a winger as it comes, is younger at 27 years and his lower wages make him a reachable quality target for the likes of Newcastle United who are set to split with Allan Saint-Maximin at the end of this season.

Atletico Madrid could swoop in for Sane should Barcelona sort its financial issues early enough to free up funds to sign Yannick Carrasco.

Beyond the money and business talk, there is also the intangibles factor that plays a key role in deciphering this sort of controversy.

Ribery had played four full seasons at Bayern and was in his fifth season when he squared up against Robben. Robben had played two full seasons for Bayern and was competing in his third season before butting heads with Ribery.

Both players endeared themselves to the Bayern establishment to have enough goodwill to stay beyond the controversy but Mane is in his debut season and hasn’t impressed while Sane is playing out his third season since joining Bayern from Man City but hasn’t exactly set the Bundesliga on fire.

Robben and Ribery as a duo had more than enough credit in the bank to ride out its grand controversy and come through that phase unscathed but Sane and Mane are far off this mark and are staring at a major fallout even if they have made peace.

Aubameyang’s mistreatment is Potter’s indirect protest message

The man in charge might not see out the remainder of the 2022-2023 season judging by the bad run of form Chelsea is in at the time of writing. Graham Potter’s Chelsea reign is going through major struggles and per reports, he needs to win immediate upcoming games against Leeds United in the league and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League to avoid a sack.However, Potter’s inexplicable limited use of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be Potter’s way of getting the needed attention to a big problem confronting the team. As cynical as it sounds, Potter could be intentionally sidelining the Gabonese striker to pile pressure on the Chelsea board to get elite forwards in the offseason transfer window.

Though Chelsea signed a boatload of players, not getting a central striker aside prospect David Datro Fofana raised many eyebrows considering Aubameyang’s struggle breaking into Potter’s team.

Though he was gifted with several quality players, leaving Aubameyang out in the cold could be Potter’s way of rebelling against the team’s decision to not sign a proven center forward.

A trait of a great coach is the management of present circumstances while laying down the marker to shape the club two or three seasons into the future. Jurgen Klopp has pulled this off with Liverpool’s frontline but has missed the mark with The Reds midfield unit.

Chelsea lost 0-2 to Spurs in its last league game

Aubameyang

Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo have consistently been involved with Liverpool goals in the past four games alongside Mohammed Salah. The mainstay from Liverpool’s hitherto vaunted frontline, Salah, continues to serve as the bridge between the new and the old unit that had Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in it.

Should Luis Diaz get back to the elite level when he returns from a long injury lay off or should Fabio Carvalho grow into a world beater, the ageing and expensive Salah is a big candidate to be moved. A Diaz, Gakpo, Nunez front line is Liverpool’s forward line of the future with all three players 26 and under. After seeing its title challenge fall by the way side in a disappointing campaign, Klopp and Liverpool’s top hierarchy is sure to get younger players for Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara.

From Left to Right: Firmino, Salah, Mane

Liverpool lost 2-5 to Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League and is a near certain candidate to get eliminated by the Spanish side. Unlike Liverpool, Real Madrid has Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde lined up to replace Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. Casemiro has starred for Man United since joining the club but lined up next to Modric and Kroos for at least half a decade.

Diaz, Nunez and Gakpo are Liverpool’s frontline of the future

Look away if you are a Chelsea fan because the Blues attack is as anemic as they come with The Blues scoring just a goal in the whole of February. Joao Felix’s fine goal off a neatly worked move in a 1-1 draw with West Ham in the league is the team’s solo converted strike in February. This barren run in front of goal has Kai Havertz as the lead man in Potter’s heavily used 4-2-3-1 formation but the German’s form is as poor as the team’s statistics in the goals scored category.

From Left to Right: Modric, Casemiro, Kroos

Despite playing 32 games, Havertz has scored six goals and has just an assist to his name in all competitions this season in the face of consistently playing the entire duration of games. While Havertz has time (he turns 24 in June) to work his way to fulfill the enormous potential he showed at Bayer Leverkusen, he has gone viral for his poor decisions when trying to link up play and also fluffing his lines when put through on goal.

Havertz

Havertz could be forgiven for his mishaps since he isn’t a center forward but is a support striker who thrives at making decoy runs and supplying potential assists. In the face of this down turn in efficiency in front of goal, Potter has strangely kept the only center forward in the team’s minutes down.

On multiple occasions, the former Brighton and Hove Albion manager has flat out ostracized Aubameyang as the former Arsenal player has been left out of the squad three times and left on the bench twice. There have been cameo appearances like the nine minute and seven minute outings against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspurs respectively interspersed in between.

Aubemyang has played a bit part role since Potter took charge of Chelsea

Perhaps Potter isn’t impressed with Aubameyang’s limited work rate high up the pitch or the Gabonese player’s body language and attitude (something that has come up several times in Aubameyang’s career)? Aubameyang’s strange absences could be down to him not being a Potter signing since the former Arsenal captain was signed from Barcelona under Thomas Tuchel.

Potter

While the Todd Boehly led consortium has injected over $600 million into headline purchases, the spot next to record signing Enzo Fernandez in the absence of Kante and in attack have not been filled appropriately. There are quality throwback strikers Chelsea can pick up in the offseason in Dusan Vlahovic and Victor Osimhen who are efficient and have all the physical attributes to feed off the abundant creativity in the Chelsea setup.

Osimhen

A modern day striker with the ruthlessness of a throwback center forward in Harry Kane is also available; though he has the lowest market price of the trio, Kane is the most difficult to get considering the rivalry between Chelsea and Spurs.

Chelsea needs a direct threat on top a madly talented and expensive setup and while Aubameyang has all the qualities to operate in this role, he has been all but shunned. However, this queer decision could be Graham Potter’s way of getting his point across and it has nothing to do with Aubameyang.