To those slagging off Ibou, a simple question: has Virgil been better than him this season?
1 Like
To me, yes. Virgil has definitely struggled being asked to do so much more defending this year than in years past, but still so much of the criticism of him has been in the region of āhe was on the pitch, why didnāt he stop them scoringā.
In many ways he reminds me or gives me Sakho vibes - the Bambi on ice thing.
Physically Ibou is a beast - no doubt.
Passing is shit. Decision making not good enough.
And again, not talking about this season. For me he never was and never will be what we need to be a constant starter at the back.
Remember before Virgil came in people were asking āwhy are we waiting for van Dijk? Just sign anyoneā
The answer to that was āthe main criteria for our CB targets is they have to be able to play from the backā
If thatās still the main criteria then Iām wondering why we signed Konate.
Iām not saying that youāre racist, but that is such a lazy stereotype going back to Djimi āMore Champions League medals than Manchester Cityā Traore.
Name me one white defender who has ever been called āBambi on iceā.
3 Likes
How can you bring race into that comment, preposterous IMO
1 Like
I didnāt really see too much that concerned me with Konate today. I was too busy looking at Fabinho and Henderson chasing shadows ahead of him. Canāt be easy when you sepdn the whole game having Gundogan and Alcarez double teaming you while your shielding midfielders still 10 yards behind the play and jogging back.
2 Likes
Matip has been great for us but he was also absolutely shite when he first signed - Konate is still younger than Matip was back then. Certainly has a lot to work on and comfort on the ball is one of those areas.
I like his power and aerial ability though. Heās got a lot of potential.
2 Likes
Letās not pretend like Matip was this outstanding CB. He wasnāt. Second best on paper when all fit and in normal form for a good few years? Yeah, Iād say so. But perhaps more likeable due to his character and all that? Yeah, Iād say so as well.
Konate is promising, pushed Matip hard already last season at times (I honestly didnāt think he would start in Paris, but he played really well, protecting against Vinicius), but I also think itās easy to look at him and get too excited about his ceiling. Mostly because of his physique.
Obviously thereās room for improvement, but I think for now heās absolutely fine to remain in a fight to be between our 2nd and 3rd choice. We do need a CB this summer though, thatās also more and more clear.
Virgil will be 32 this summer and showing some weak performances lately. Matip looks like heās on his way out. Gomez is not good enough to start for us, but the fella will probably survive yet again due to a few advantages he carries with him, 4th choice. Konate is not the finished article and also is yet to show he can be fit on longer periods.
1 Like
Name me one black defender whoās been called a donkey.
Poor comment from you. Not everything is about race. I think Ibou is way better than Sakho but I get the similarity in their running style.
i also think they are the same in terms of not sensing any danger, getting caught out of posistion and other things like eratic tackles.
but then i think whoever he plays with are bang out of form so it cant be easy.
i mean, look where both he and vvd were for the first goalā¦nowhere near where they should be.
Been drinking since midday yesterday and posted under the influence. 
The point still stands, though: you never see white players labelled that way.
not quite sure why you think its racistā¦
me and my mates say it about every player who looks a little awkwardā¦like. erā¦bambi on ice!
Because you only ever see it applied to black players.
Anyway, to get back to Ibou, it wasnāt his best game yesterday but he has put in some top class performances for us and is still young by centre half standards. We should be looking at finding a long-term partner for him.
2 Likes
Drinking is no excuse for using the race word etc, poor form which is unusual for you
Sakho was very over rated by some Liverpool fans, Konate is a bit similar but 10 times better, his dribbling and especially his passing needs major improvement.
Biggest issue with Ibou is that he needs to improve his distribution but that is an issue for our whole back 4
Itās not so much racist as racially coded. Black players tend to be described more by their physical attributes, for example ābeastā is a term that is given to black players way more often than white players.
White players tend to be described by terms related to their intelligence or technical ability.
In this regard the term Bambi on ice would rarely be used about a white player. Iāve seen that phrase used about Titus Bramble, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Calvin Bassey, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mamadou Sakho, Davinson Sanchez, Ashley Fletcher, and now of course Ibrahima Konate. Thatās not to say only black players get called that - I did find articles saying it about Granit Xhaka and Michael Keane also - but itās usually a term used to describe black players.
There was a study into this based on punditry in UK and the US a few years ago and the results were extremely clear. Iāll try and find it if its interesting for you.
Racial, not necessarily racist, I think was the conclusion. Something thatās good to be aware of but not calling for people to be fired from commentating for it.
5 Likes
Letās not forget Crouchie!
1 Like
ā¦heās big, heās redā¦ his feet stick out the bed :0)
Konate was good before the world cup but has been terrible since. Matip has had a really poor season. Both players were excellent last year.
I donāt see a chasm between the two players, theyāve performed at a comparable level since Konate joined.
2 Likes