Against Galatasaray, Konate’s struggles were compounded by a costly pass that set Victor Osimhen free, forcing goalkeeper Alisson Becker into a desperate sprint. The Brazilian hurt his hamstring in the process and now faces an extended spell on the sidelines, adding to Liverpool‘s mounting defensive headaches.
Konate’s acknowledged weakness on the ball has long been an area of concern. While the Reds continue to work on improving this aspect of his game, the spotlight is firmly on the Frenchman as Liverpool try to halt a worrying slide.Even going forward, Konate has been frustrated. From corners in both matches, he sent headers wide that should have been hammered home.
“If you are losing a game of football, it doesn’t help if you lose the ball a few times very easily,” Slot said at a press conference on Friday. “Ibou has been one of them, but definitely not the only one. Against Galatasaray, apart from the penalty, maybe they got three or four other moments, all from us losing simple balls without any pressure, which happened to him once in the Palace game and once against Galatasaray.
“If you lose there is so much focus on that moment and, all of a sudden, 90 minutes have been very poor. That’s not the way I analyse a game when I watch it back. I see what we did well and what we did wrong. In the last two games, it has been obvious and clear we have made a few errors, not only him, but also others we are not used to. If you do things that people are not used to then normally the manager gets criticised.”
Liverpool’s record this season tells a worrying story: only two clean sheets in ten games and four in 21 since a 1-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain back in March. Contrast that with four clean sheets in the first six games of last term, and it’s clear Liverpool’s defensive issues run deeper than any one player. It remains to be seen if Slot chooses to stick to Konate against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge or tries out Joe Gomez.
