Meeting Mamadou

MAMADOU SAKHO INTERVIEW FROM THE NOVEMBER ISSUE OF LFC MAGAZINE

A few days after Mamadou Sakho joined us first team physio Chris Morgan tweeted: ‘Had to reinforce the equipment for one of the new signing’s strength screening……. ‪#‬Powerhouse ‪#‬Sakho The line may not have been as eloquently put as Bill Shankly’s famous description of Ron Yeats as a colossus. However, the message is similar; Sakho has presence. Watching him bound down the stairs at Melwood, wearing bright white trainers, confirms as much. Although not as tall as you might expect, the French defender cuts an imposing figure. When our photographer asks him to find his ‘mean and moody’ side he does so without any fuss. It almost comes naturally. The sight brings a smile from the passing Daniel Sturridge, who cheekily enquires ‘do you need a pretty face for the picture?’ That line from the striker cracks Sakho’s façade and he laughs. Although easily able to intimidate when required, he is actually a friendly individual. This is demonstrated when he tells us: “I am in no rush” as he sits down to answer our questions.

IT SOUNDS LIKE A DREAM.....
Back in September 2008 the Scout section of Sky Sports’ website focused on Sakho. They suggested his potential value could one day be £15m. At that point, and until recently, his name may have been unfamiliar to Premier League fans. On the other side of the English Channel he has long been tipped as a future star. “Mamadou is one of the most gifted players of his generation,” Timothe Crepin of France Football magazine says. “He has played at every level with the French underage teams. He is a solid defender who, physically, is very well equipped to play in England.” Hailing from Paris, he grew up in the city’s suburbs. “I was born in Barbès, the 18th district,” Sakho explains. “Sometimes it was tough for my parents to earn a living and they moved around to find work. My mom did some different jobs, such as a chambermaid in a hotel. “It was an enjoyable childhood. We didn’t need much to keep us happy; just a football and a few mates to have a game. Once we had that there were no worries.” Aged 8, Sakho and his family moved to the district of Porte De Vincennes. While still new to the area, he would spend evenings kicking a ball around by himself in front of their home. On one occasion a man walked past. Sakho smiles as he recalls the moment. “He asked me to show him what I could do. When he asked me to show him some more tricks I started heading the ball. “He gave me an address and told me to turn up there the following Wednesday for a trial at Paris FC. I know it sounds like a dream, but that’s what happened.” The French club, now in the third division, had formed in 1969 and later amalgamated with Stade Saint Germain to form PSG before then going their separate ways. Filled with excitement, the youngster couldn’t sleep the night before the big day. “I went to bed in my kit, I even had my boots on because I wanted to make sure I was ready.” The audition went well and he became a Paris FC player. Although a big moment in a young life, the idea of one day earning a living from the game hadn’t entered Sakho’s mind. “Becoming a professional didn’t occur to me then. I just went along with my boots over my shoulder and enjoyed playing with friends. There was a nice atmosphere at the club.” Operating mainly as a left-midfielder, he stayed there for four years. Then PSG came calling.

PSG CAPTAIN.....
It sounds like the perfect location for a young and talented Parisian to fulfill his potential. Initially though that was not the case. “I eventually had a great time at PSG,” Sakho explains. “At the start it wasn’t easy for me. I found it difficult to adjust during the first six months. “I suppose I was a little bit of a rebel. I’m from the suburbs of Paris, an area where kids don’t pay too much attention to what their parents say. If my mom told me to go to bed at 8 o’clock I didn’t really listen. So, a guy at the PSG dormitory had no chance of telling me when it was time for lights out.” Frustrated, he decided that he would end his association with the club. “It got to the point where I had just had enough. I came home and told my dad I was finished.” Then, a coach at the club named Christian Mas intervened. “He spoke to my parents and sorted it out. I stayed and, from that point on, everything went well for me at the Academy.” Mas, now working as part of the backroom staff with the Oman national side, would become a pivotal figure in Sakho’s life. “During his first year with us Mamadou lost his dad,” the coach says. “It was obviously a difficult and painful moment so I tried to look after him. I paid him more attention than the other youngsters. “Since then we have always kept in touch. During the summer we exchanged a few text messages. I am extremely proud of him, very proud of the courage he has displayed to leave Paris to try to win a place in the Liverpool team.”

PAUL LE GUEN....
When former PSG defender Paul Le Guen, now in charge of Oman, returned to become manager at the French club in January 2007 he noticed the capabilities of Sakho and sought him out for a chat. “I was maybe 16 and had just started training with the first team,” the Liverpool man says of the conversation. “Paul told me that I had it all and I could play for France if I continued working hard.” Such advice is probably employed to motivate youngsters all over the world. Le Guen backed up his words by putting Sakho in the team for a game away at Valenciennes that October. Cedric Chapuis, a French football journalist, explains how it came about. “The manager was upset by the performances of the senior players. He dropped some of them and brought in six or seven youngsters. Sakho was one of those and he chose him as captain for the day. He was, and still is, the youngest captain in the history of the club.” After the game, a scoreless draw in which ex-Red David Ngog also featured, Le Guen was asked about the temporary skipper. “Sakho loves the club and symbolises this new generation, for which we have such high hopes,” he commented. Leading out your boyhood team at the age of 17 would probably overwhelm most individuals. Sakho responded to the news by laughing. He didn’t see it as a problem, more of a continuation of what had gone before. “All through my career, whether it was at the age of 12, 15 or in the reserve team, I’d been given that responsibility,” he says. “With the U16 and U17 national team I’d been captain too. So to do it for the first team didn’t bring extra pressure. Being a leader isn’t something that has ever worried me. I’ve always embraced it.” In 2011 he became the captain on a permanent basis. When asked why numerous managers have seen him as their leader on the pitch he is too modest to list his qualities. “It’s hard to say why someone is [a captain]. Perhaps Steven Gerrard is better placed to answer that. I think the most important thing for me – with or without an armband – is to give my all and do my utmost for the team.”

THE LEAVING OF PARIS……
PSG’s 2-0 home win over Guingamp earlier this season was hardly a classic, with the goals from Adrien Rabiot and Zlatan Ibrahimovic arriving during injury time. What made the evening memorable was the actions of those on the terraces. Amongst the crowd of 44,943 the name of Sakho was chanted. ‘Thank you’ they sang in acknowledgement of their former defender’s efforts. This followed on from a letter the PSG supporters’ club, Paris Kop, penned to Sakho in which they described his departure as similar to ‘a child leaving the family nest to start a new life.’ Mention of his hometown team creates a glint of recognition in the player’s eyes. “I am one of them,” he says of the Parc des Princes’ regulars, “en enfante du club. I can understand why they might be sad because not many players come through the ranks there. I grew up in Paris and spent a long time with the club.” Clearly, leaving wasn’t an easy decision for the 23-year-old and he only decided to do so after giving it plenty of thought. Since the Qatar Investment Authority first became involved during 2011 life at PSG had undoubtedly changed. In the manager’s office Antoine Kombouare was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, who then left for Real Madrid during the summer and was succeeded by current incumbent Laurent Le Blanc. Much coveted players like Ibrahimovich, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Edinson Cavani and Javier Pastore arriving illustrated the lofty ambitions of the owners. In Sakho’s position Alex and Thiago Silva were purchased. It meant he enjoyed less and less playing time. In July there was also the signing of another Brazilian defender, Marquinhos, from Roma. “There was plenty of competition for places,” Sakho confirms. “I don’t mind that. I think it’s good. But for me it no longer felt like healthy competition. I began to think that, no matter what I did, the team was already picked.” He has no regrets about departing and looks back on his years in France with plenty of pride. “PSG will always be in my heart. But when you’re not part of someone’s plans it’s a simple choice. I left with my head held high. “When I started out as a boy I wanted to be successful with PSG and it happened. I won the League Cup, the French Cup and the league. Winning the title was magnificent. Now I want to do the same with Liverpool. That’s why I’m here.”