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Cup of Nations Will Hit the Premier League Hard, but Clubs Must Accept It
- Updated: December 1, 2016
When Philippe Coutinho went down with his ankle injury on Saturday, the concern around Anfield was intensified by the knowledge that Adam Lallana is still recovering from a groin strain, that Daniel Sturridge has another calf problem and that, come January, Liverpool’s attacking options will be reduced even more when Sadio Mane joins up with Senegal for the Africa Cup of Nations.
There will be withdrawals because of injuries, real and convenient, and certain players may not be selected, but there could be as many as 37 Premier League players heading off to Gabon. Perhaps the more striking statistic, though, is that five clubs—Liverpool among them—could be losing their record signings.
Even before Coutinho’s injury, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was talking about having to make a signing to cover for the loss of Mane. The former Southampton forward, with his pace and his capacity to play on the diagonal, cutting in from wide, is an unusual player, one perfect for exploiting the space left by Roberto Firmino in his false-nine role.
Mane’s speed also means defences are wary of pushing out too far and risking leaving gaps in behind them, which means there is more space for Liverpool’s creative players—Coutinho, Lallana and Georginio Wijnaldum—to operate in between the opposing defensive and midfield lines. He is not easily replicated or replaced.
In that sense, of the realistic title contenders, Liverpool will probably be worst affected by the Cup of Nations. The concern is not just the three weeks to a month a player is away; the emotional intensity of a major tournament, whether a team does well or poorly, often seems to sap at players thereafter.
There are good climatic reasons why January-February is the right time to host the Cup of Nations, and while it’s understandable that European clubs are frustrated that it takes place every two years rather than every four, the biennial nature of the competition was—just about—instituted from its origin in the late ’50s and ’60s, when African football struggled for global recognition.
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