With Sadio Mané suspended at Bayern Munich, Senegal coach longs for the old days

When the locker room brouhaha between Bayern Munich stars Sadio Mané and Leroy Sané reached the media, the word was quickly spread.

Some old school football types cringed at the thought of a clubhouse spat being leaked to the masses — including Senegal national team manager Aliou Cissé, who coaches Mané during international play.

“This is dressing room stuff. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. In fact, what happened shouldn’t even have come out of the dressing room. They say dressing rooms have secrets. Things that happen there must stay there,” Cissé told WIW Sport (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “What’s important now is the health of Sadio Mané, his performances with Bayern but also with Senegal. I believe he’s on the right track. Let’s not forget he went 5 months without playing. For a high-level athlete, if you stay 10 days without playing, you feel it. He had a good preparation. Now, it’s through playing matches that he will regain confidence and explosiveness too – because that’s what he’s missing right now. He has to play games, I hope he’ll do that at Bayern.”

Cissé also said he is not worried about any long-term effects stemming from the incident.

“I believe in this Bayern team. Everyone knows everyone and their mentality. But they all have to pull together because it’s in Sadio Mané’s interest for Leroy to be with him – and it’s in Leroy’s interest for Sadio to be with him. I think they will move on from this,” said Cissé.