They way both played over the last couple of seasons, I’d take Guehi over him in terms of him being more consistent and better on the ball. One in, on out on a free transfer seems like a solid deal on paper, even though I wish Konate stayed.
That said, Guehi isn’t capable of covering such large distances like Konate - but I hope we’re a bit more compact and that our fullbacks will learn to play in both directions, so our RCB doesn’t have to bust a gut in every match.
I also think it would be a bit comical if Real Madrid, of all clubs, signed Konate, even on a free, just to replicate Liverpool’s tactic of helping out Trent. With their midfield composition, it could actually work out better for Trent than at Liverpool but still…
Obviously Guehi has never played for a top protagonist side (playing for England can give some clues), so we would have to see. But I think he would cope well defending large spaces. There could be a question mark about his game in the air though. I see him as someone who could basically play any position in a back 4, although he’s clearly a CB.
He’s not the reason why we lost the match (I wish he was because it would be easy to correct that come the end of the season) but the way he’s been playing is starting to remind me of Trent’s final season at Liverpool - only Trent bowed out with a PL title and Konate will bow out empty-handed. I’m slowly getting to the point where I wouldn’t care if we lost him on a free if we got Guehi on a free (or for some reasonable fee in January). Simply, this kind of inconsistency, coupled with mistakes made on the ball, cannot be tolerated anymore.
Their first had similarities to the Maguire winner the other week the way he seemed to get caught under the ball. It’s really poor stuff for a guy whose supposed strength is his mobility and physicality but the reality is if you ask him to backpeddle even 2 feet he becomes like a stack of bricks
Thing is, it not even that goal that I’m mad about (the cross should have been defended better in the first place, so it’s not only on him). His error that led to penalty and his lax passing throughout the first half is what does my head in. In one game, he turns into prime Thiago Silva, you can’t go past him and he plays his passes like a finest deep-lying playmaker. In the other, he’s a liability. That’s been the story of this season for him.
I get that, but for me it’s the opposite. You have to accept a little bit of that with Ibou, but the justification for doing that becomes a lot harder to accept when he doesn’t do the things he’s supposed to be good at
Oh, I’ve been accepting a lot of his lows because his highs were pretty good. That said, majority of his lows were his injuries and not brainfarts like Crystal Palace away and the first half against Man City. Be that as it may, I think he’ll be the blessing or curse of someone else’s defence next season but it would be nice if we ended up qualifying for CL after all the financial muscle flexing of last summer.
Have we ever had a player that swings to extremes as much as Konate? Against Madrid he was world class, today he was awful. Inconsistent is not even the word, heis something else. This is a theme that has always amd probably will always be in his game.
The injury to Leoni came at the worst possible time, I think he’d have had an opportunity by now to stake his claim further and build on the great debut he had.
Ibou blowing co…more freezing or boiling isn’t really anything new, the only thing I’m surprised by is how many consecutive games he’s played now without breaking down. Still wished we’d sorted his contract out sooner, just to eliminate that possibility.
All over the place today. It’s a really bad situation when you can’t pick on merit at CB. It’s literally the main two as long as they’re fit and that’s it. Even if Gomez comes in for Ibou, potentially does well and stays in for a few games, very questionable whether that’s the level needed and if he can stay fit.
The problem is there’s no competition for his place. The threat of being dropped for an able deputy would surely light a rocket up his backside. We need more CB’s not to get rid of him and replace him one for one cos what would stop the same happening to his replacement?!
There was a passage of play towards the end of yesterday’s game where Gomez somehow ended up centrally, defending a counter-attack. He got absolutely lost in his movement and played Man City’s forwards onside, it was unbelievably comical.
The best we can hope for in the medium to long term is that Leoni recovers in time for pre-season (not given), Guehi decides to snub interest from others and move to Liverpool and we get another good centre back, thus allowing Gomez to finally move on (Konate will very likely leave on a free).