Topic: Mamadou Sakho

[JoeCole]

He's just received his first call up to the France squad since the drug ban for the friendlies against Iceland and Germany.

Roy Hodgson has been full of praise for Mamadou Sakho after the Crystal Palace defender's return to the French squad.

The Palace defender has returned to the French squad for the first time in two-and-a-half years, having been called up by Didier Deschamps for games against Iceland and Germany, along with Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma, who is currently on loan at Everton.

And Hodgson feels that Sakho is back to the level he has previously shown at Liverpool, when he was last called up to the French squad in March 2016.

"I do compare Mamadou [Sakho] today with the way he is playing, his fitness, everything about him, with the player who came to us very shortly after the transfer window," said Hodgson.

"He obviously wasn’t that fit because he hadn’t been getting games at Liverpool.

"He’s made enormous strides and he’s back to the player he was when Liverpool decided to spend a lot of money to bring him to the club. That’s great for us because we’re benefiting from it."

It has been some journey for Sakho though, who has 28 caps for France, but none since a match against Russia in March 2016.

That was partly the result of a drug suspension after testing positive for a plant extract called higenamine, which was contained in a fat burner he admitted he had been using.

The positive test followed a UEFA Europa League match between Liverpool and Manchester United in April of that year, although a UEFA report later confirmed that he should not have been banned as the substance was not specifically on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances and was not even tested for at most laboratories.

Since then, he has missed out on a Europa League final with Liverpool and two major tournaments for France, including the European Championships in his home country and the World Cup in Russia which was won by Les Bleus this summer, with Sakho named on the standby list by Deschamps.

But he has now been named in the French squad again, which Hodgson has hailed as a "massive step forward" and an honour for Sakho, who initially moved to Palace on loan in January 2017, before making a permanent switch to south London in the summer of that year.

"Since I’ve been at the club, certainly in the last two or three international periods, we’ve received a letter (from the France federation) telling us he’s on the provisional list.

"He was on the provisional list for the World Cup as well. It’s the first time he’s gone from that list to being actually included. That’s a massive step forward for him but he’s always, right from the very beginning, made it clear to me that, 'I’m hoping it’s not going to be provisional list, I’m hoping it’s going to be them selecting me'.

"He’s very, very proud about playing for his country and takes it very, very seriously.

"I see it as an honour for him, I see it as a recognition of the quality of the football he has played since the start of the season and I also see it as a feather in the cap for Crystal Palace Football Club.

"We, as a team, are playing well enough to get him recognised as a potential for the world champions. There are some good players in that French team."

But Hodgson says he does not necessarily see it as a confidence boost for the 28-year-old, after he conceded a late penalty in the 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth on Monday night.

Instead, Hodgson said he sees it as being recognition for the level of performance he feels he has produced during his time at Palace.

"I’m not sure he needs that. I don’t think he needs a boost in confidence," Hodgson said.

"He is confident, as he should be. If you’re that good of a footballer, both technically and in terms of your understanding of the game and your positional sense, if you’re that good, you should be confident, whether you’re being called up for your national team or not.

"I don’t think during the time I’ve worked with him, there has ever been a situation where I’ve seen his confidence fail because maybe he didn’t get the call-up.

"He’s just very, very pleased his contribution to our football has been recognised and he now gets the chance to show them that, actually, “I am a very good player and you could use me”. That’s what I think it’s all about."

https://www.football.london/crystal-palace-fc/players/liverpool-outcast-palace-france-recall-15245430

[rowan_d]

Bit odd, from what I've seen he's in his worst period of form since he's been at Palace. Think he was injured a lot though last season, and he was great for them in his first 5 months or so.

The football he missed because of the drugs ban must have been such a kick in the bollocks, a European final, and then the only chance he'd have had to play a home international tournament when he was starting pretty regularly for the team if I recall.

[Keith Lard]

Happy for Mama - will always have a lot of time for him. He was so passionate and proud to play for us.

[RyanBabel19]

Happy for Mama - will always have a lot of time for him. He was so passionate and proud to play for us.

Likewise, good centre back and seemed to really love the club

[Johnny B. Goode]

Can't believe he was with us for three full seasons. It always seemed like he didn't properly stake a claim for a permanent starting spot, for various reasons.

Have to admit I thought he would go on to have a better career, and that Palace would be a very temporary thing. Nice guy Mama, one of those players I could never give up on.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

I was a big fan of Sakho when he was here, but I cannot remember the last time I saw him play without him fucking up. He was good for most of the match yesterday but then fucked up for the goal and went completely to shit after that. He seems to have lost a yard of pace too, especially when trying to turn around.

[Giono]

Can't believe he was with us for three full seasons. It always seemed like he didn't properly stake a claim for a permanent starting spot, for various reasons.

Have to admit I thought he would go on to have a better career, and that Palace would be a very temporary thing. Nice guy Mama, one of those players I could never give up on.

Injuries. It would take him a while to recover his form.

[Giono]

I was a big fan of Sakho when he was here, but I cannot remember the last time I saw him play without him fucking up. He was good for most of the match yesterday but then fucked up for the goal and went completely to shit after that. He seems to have lost a yard of pace too, especially when trying to turn around.

Maybe injuries have taken a toll?

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

"Premier League star Mamadou Sakho is suing the world anti-doping agency for £13 million over claims a drug-test blunder torpedoed his career at Liverpool."


Fair play. I remember he couldn't play in Europa final because of this. They damaged us as well, because who knows, maybe with him we would have won that trophy.

[sms1986]

Good luck to him, hopefully he wins!

[xbugawugax]

absolutely hopes he wins.

he still would have made a decent defender here.

[Perham]

I always liked him, it was a shame that he fell out with Klopp. I hope he wins

[Fromola]

absolutely hopes he wins.

he still would have made a decent defender here.

He was imperious in that run to the final. The second half may well have goen differently had he been there to cover Moreno more as he had been.

[Clayton Bigsby]

His attitude on tour torpedoed his career, but still hope he wins

[Alf]

I hope Sakho wins, he missed the Europa League Final and the Euro's in France that summer. I still think he'd have fallen foul of Klopp at some stage regardless.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

His attitude on tour torpedoed his career, but still hope he wins

They must have had a proper falling out,no way Jurgen bombed him out just because of his first outing as director.

[demain]

It was utterly sinister of Klopp to hound out Sakho from the club. So unbearably sinister.

[Something Worse]

It was utterly sinister of Klopp to hound out Sakho from the club. So unbearably sinister.

You wouldn't catch The Ev doing that to any of their players. Especially not Oumar Niasse.

[Fromola]

We should sue for lost earnings. With Sakho in the final if we won we'd have been in the CL the next season.

[zabadoh]

He's absolutely justified in suing them for the blundered test results.

[GreatEx]

Do we still miss this guy? lol

[Alan_X]

No


Locked.