Does Everton’s Niasse u-turn highlight Liverpool’s mistake with Sakho?

Follow us on Google Discover

Ronald Koeman deserves credit with Oumar Niasse u-turn at Everton – should Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp have done something similar with Mamadou Sakho?

Oumar Niasse of Everton celebrates scoring his side’s second goal during the Premier League match against AFC Bournemouth.

Oumar Niasse was Everton’s hero at the weekend as he came off the bench to score twice and end a three-game losing streak in the Premier League by sealing a 2-1 victory at home to Bournemouth.

This came on the back of Niasse also finding the net as a substitute during the 3-1 Carabao Cup win against Sunderland the previous match, making the striker the Toffees’ topscorer this season despite having only played 59 minutes of first team football.

Oumar Niasse of Everton scores his side’s first goal during the Premier League match against AFC Bournemouth.

It also signals quite a remarkable turnaround for the 27-year-old under manager Ronald Koeman, who according to Sky Sports told the Senegal international he had no future at Goodison Park when the Dutchman was appointed as boss in the summer of 2016.

Niasse had only been signed from Spartak Moscow for £13.5m the previous January by Koeman’s predecessor Roberto Martinez, but was now surplus to requirements and relegated to the Under-23s before joining Hull City on loan for the latter half of the season.

Yet with just two goals scored in their five league outings up until that point, the 54-year-old deserves credit for admitting his mistake and allowing the forward another chance to prove himself.

Mamadou Sakho of Crystal Palace and Abdelhamid Sabiri of Huddersfield during the Carabao Cup Third Round match.

It is something that maybe should have happened across Stanley Park at Liverpool between manager Jurgen Klopp and defender Mamadou Sakho.

Sakho joined Crystal Palace this summer after a successful loan spell towards the end of last term having been frozen out at Anfield by Klopp following a fall out between the pair in July 2016 – as reported by ESPN.

The Frenchman did not play a single match for the Reds in 2016/17 as a result, despite repeated problems at the back and with the Merseysiders having conceded 11 goals in six league games already this campaign – only Palace, Leicester City and West Ham United have let in more – did they, unlike their rivals with Niasse, allow stubbornness to be a hindrance?