CAPE TOWN – Liverpool’s attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino is the best in world football, according to Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney.
The Derby County skipper, who also turned out for Everton, admitted it pained him to admit that Liverpool possess the “best attacking unit in world football”.
Writing in his column in The Times, Rooney said: “I’ve been tryong to explain how scoring is often down to players working together and the Liverpool front three are the perfect example.
“Salah and Sadio Mane provide the depth by pushing teams back which allows Firmino to come deep for the ball, the opposition centre backs relax and suddently the other two make diagonal runs at incredible pace to attack the Space,” said Rooney.
“It reminds me of how Roman used to play with [Francesco] Totti as a No. 10 and two quick runners attacking the box from wide. It pains me to admit it, but Liverpool are the best attacking unit in world football at the moment,” said Rooney, who played alongside the likes of Ruud van Nistlerooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Robin van Persie and Dimitar Berbatov.
According to former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, Firmino was the most important player in Liverpool’s arsenal.
“I just think everyone gels properly when he’s playing,” Heskey said in an interview with 90min.
“He’s not necessarily worried about ‘this is my job and I need to do this’,” said the former England international.
“You see him chasing back and tackling, you see him playing left wing and chase the guy up and down the wing. Then you’ll see him up front, getting the ball and holding it up and bringing someone in. It’s just a different variety of stuff that he does. He’s not just focused on ‘I must score goals,” said Heskey.