The attacking duo are on a three-man shortlist for the Confederation of African Football Player of the Year award which will be named on Thursday.

“We sleep in a hotel, they sleep in a plane. That is all the difference,” said Klopp.

“We have to show them respect.”

The awards take place in Accra on Thursday evening with Liverpool kicking off against local rivals Everton at 19:55 GMT the day after.

Klopp says that his experience of managing the third nominee – Borussia Dortmund and Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – during his time at the German club means he understands the importance of the awards.

“If it had been a matchday they wouldn’t have asked,” he added.

“For our side, it is just a sign of respect.

“I had Aubameyang and there is nothing more important than to go there.”

The awards recognise the best male and female players from the continent and organisers expect that all previous winners since their inception in 1992 will be present.

Salah, who scored the goal that took Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990 as well as 23 in 29 appearances for Liverpool this season, won the BBC African Football of the Year award in December.

The 25-year-old missed Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Burnley on Monday with a slight groin strain and Klopp says he is a doubt for the meeting with Everton regardless of his travel.

“If Mo is not fit, it will not be for that,” he added.

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Source: BBC

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The bid to make the Russia 2018 World Cup failed woefully, the local top flight league is riddled with alleged match fixing, unchecked betting among players and grass root football remains lifeless but yet again a large collection of brains will gather in Cape-Coast for a summit I hope will be more than a tea drinking party to rehash old ideas.

The GFA have managed to bring together all the stakeholders that matter as far as the issue of Ghana football is concerned, now the onus is on them to ensure that deliberations during the three-day summit don’t bypass the establishment of the structures that teach the fundamentals of the game.

It is wonderful that an effort will be made to educate all participants on the modern technologies and trends of the game but none of that makes sense when the factory that will churn out players does not exist.

Nations that are light years ahead of Ghana have taken steps back to do some introspection after they have hit a dead-end but for that to happen the front runners and leaders of the game must firstly admit that the game has gone to the dogs and needs a thorough clean up and restructuring from the bottom up.

It’s great that stakeholders including the National Juvenile Committee, the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS) the Professional Footballers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) will all be in attendance as the FA seeks to draw a roadmap that attempts to save the game from becoming extinct.

The role of the Sports Ministry in all this will make for curious observation as the State has clearly shown through cutting funding for the Ministry by thirty percent that Sports does not hold a lot of importance in the nation-building agenda.

However, the success stories of countries like the United States and Great Britain where the State participates and takes an active interest in Sports is hard to ignore. This goes beyond the mere provision of funds but also putting together visionary policies and adherence to establishing grass root structures.

While the game still has nostrils let us play our part by feeding it oxygen because I fear that there might come a time when our arrogance and lack of interest to develop the game will attract nothing but tears and black roses.

Red Mess

Which man with genuine intentions to be at his best will look in their wardrobe only to pick out a dirty and crumpled shirt while a clean and crisp one stays hanging as he anticipates a date with a highly coveted woman? German tactician and manager Jurgen  Klopp.

Which General, leaves his elite troops in the background while the enemy gains the advantage and is looking to make away with valuables? German tactician and manager Jurgen Klopp does.

Liverpool football club’s last medal of honour in the last decade remains their tag as the giant killers of the English Premier League but even that is threatening to slip away.

Arsenal can barely be considered giants in the current era of the Premier League so Liverpool’s 4-0 victory against them can barely be an oasis in this context.

However, a humbling 5-0 defeat to Man City followed by an indifferent 0-0 performance against Man United and another disastrous 4-1 defeat to Tottenham have Liverpool trailing league leaders Manchester City by 14 points with their giant-killing rep in tatters.

With the team coming off a soul crashing 3-3 draw against Sevilla in the Champions League in midweek, the team yearned for that one result that had the potential, to jumpstart Liverpool’s season.

What better opportunity to do that than in a match against Chelsea at Anfield.

The team sheets provided the first hammer blow, with Sadio Mane, Liverpool’s most influential player left on the bench accompanied by Roberto Firmino, the club’s most hardworking attacker.

This essentially meant that Liverpool would line up with a midfield three of Henderson, Milner and Oxlade-Chanmberlain who prior to the Chelsea match had never played together, while upfront Sturridge was the preferred choice.

The 1-0 scoreline in favour of Liverpool on the stroke of 64 minutes was misleading as Chelsea had till the point created several clear-cut goal scoring chances while the home side labored in their attempts to tease out their opponents.

Indeed Salah’s goal was as a result of Bakayoko accidentally knocking a ball into the path of the Egyptian and not Liverpool’s creative brilliance.

This was the point in the game when the managers needed to earn their salaries and Chelsea’s Conte came out with a grade A.

He quickly made switches that gave his trailing team a competitive advantage going forward and kept them on the front foot till Willian came through with Chelsea’s equalizer.

The decision to leave Mane out of the starting lineup in itself is an unforgivable crime, but the short-sightedness not to notice his role as a counter-attacking outlet right after taking the lead leaves me puzzled and angry at the same time.

Jurgen Klopp failed to take advantage of a Chelsea team struggling to find consistency and approached the match against Chelsea like one with nothing at stake.

His in-game management has been extremely questionable, and I cannot fault Mane for reacting in a very angry manner to his manager after the match.

Such decisions have the tendency to wreck the chemistry of the dressing room.

While there are those who believe that Klopp’s actions will reinforce his complete confidence in the overall quality of his squad I do believe that his actions will lead the big players in the dressing room to question his ambition, judgment and his commitment to remaining among the league’s elite.

In effect, these results will eventually pile pressure on Klopp himself with the progress made by the club during his nearly three-year stint coming under scrutiny.

The irony of it all is that I don’t believe we have seen the last of Jurgen Klopp and his loony decisions.

Trapped in Dark place

At the peak of his powers Derrick Rose, was arguably the best player in the NBA on certain nights and was emerging as the face of the NBA’s youth movement. Before we witnessed the freakish athleticism of Russell Westbrook and John Wall at the guard spot there was Derrick Rose.

Indeed he would go on to become the youngest ever MVP in the history of the league at age 22 in the 2010/2011 while leading the Chicago Bulls to a league best 62-20 record.

He has however never been the same since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the opening game of the playoffs in 2012 against the Sixers.

Ever since, he has been plagued with a plethora of injuries and personal situations that have derailed his once Hall of Fame destined career.

In fact Rose hasn’t played in more than 66 games in a single season since 2011-12 and has sustained an incredible 23 different types of injuries since the 2013 season.

The most complex bit for an athlete with the injury history of Rose is overcoming the psychological hurdle once the recovery process is complete.

The fear of sustaining another injury has the potential to eat away at the confidence of a player but it seemed as if Rose had turned that corner and was determined to play the game his way.

“I can’t think about getting injured every time I get out there on the floor, I just want to play free and enjoy myself,” he told reporters shortly after he had joined the New York Knicks.

Playing in only seven games so far this season, Rose was averaging nearly 27 minutes per game. Minutes that would produce 14.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game before disaster struck again.

A sprained ankle sustained against the Milwaukee Bucks has left the former MVP mentally drained and frustrated to the extent where he has asked to be away from the team while he sorts himself out.

It remains true that when he is out on the court he still attacks the basket with the same aggression and his finishing around the hoop remains very assured but how does one find the resilience to return when the body just won’t hold up.

A part of me believes that while Rose spoke of playing without any fear, in his head it was the stark opposite.

What he will have to do is find a way to let out all his frustrations while subscribing to some form of therapy that will convince him to find the joy in the little things surrounding the game.

Talking to other players that have suffered his type of situation could also help immensely but to be honest I won’t pretend as If I truly know what the man is enduring.

He will require the Cavaliers family and especially Lebron James to show him some much-needed affection while he goes through these difficult times.

He could have become the one of the greatest ever and might still be in with a chance of winning a Championship with the Cavs.

I don’t know what the future holds but whatever happens, Derrick Rose, please don’t walk away from the game.

By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mane was dismissed in the 37th minute after catching City goalkeeper Ederson in the face with a high foot.

He will now miss Premier League matches against Burnley and Leicester, as well as a trip to the latter in the EFL Cup.

The excessive punishment claim was rejected following an independent regulatory commission hearing.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said on Saturday that neither he nor City counterpart Pep Guardiola thought Mane should have been sent off.

Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Ian Wright all said they would have gone for the ball, while Chris Sutton told Match of the Day 2 that Mane’s red card should be rescinded.

However, Shearer said it was still a red card under the current rules. Former England internationals Jamie Carragher and Phil Neville were also among those to say referee Jon Moss was right to dismiss Mane.

Ederson trained on Tuesday as City prepare for their opening Champions League group game against Feyenoord on Wednesday.

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Source: BBC

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