maybe he will be transformed.
even after all this, i still am fond of him
For his own good, Konate shouldāve been taken out of the team a few matches ago. Joe Gomez has made the bench many times, so must at least be able to play 60 minutes or so.
We all know Konate in top form is an excellent player. Even his detractors would probably agree. But when he stinks, he really does. A few games out would do him good.
So the player himself needs to take some responsibility. Now onto Slot. KOnateās physicality means that he is suited to cover the right back area and snuff out danger. Moreso than a RCB would usually do for a team like Palace. IF KOnate is in the Palace team, Iād argue heād be playing to his strengths.
So he is tasked to do more things for us. So when heās out of form, it;s going to end up in situations like the past couple of months.
Some pragmatism by Slot to shore up the covering players ahead of our defence would allow us to start gettting some results together.
agreed.
this is the flipside of the coin when we talk about rotating the squad.
Gakpo is another one, just take them out of the firing line, thats on Slotā¦even Salah, everyone can see he needs the bench, its not just for the team but for the player tooā¦somewhere to breathā¦
2 Likes
Hopefully PSG or Bayern comes for him.Extending Konate will be a massive mistake.The guy is too inconsistent and treats the ball like hot potato.
Since the PSG ālinksā, they signed Zabarnyi. So I donāt know if they would be interested in Konate anymore. They have Zabarnyi, Pacho, Marquinhos and Beraldo. Plus Lucas Hernandez as their hybrid leftie, either a backup LB or LCB.
For me, when heās in shape and in form, heās a very good CB.
Among the very best? No. Can Liverpool and France win with him in the starting XI? Yes.
And itās clear that since the start of the season, he didnāt look right. If we had healthy competition like we had before, he wouldāve been benched very soon.
Most players are tasked to do multiple things, itās how football evolved and you try and squeeze as much and more than before from positions like full back.
Weāve ignored the CB area for a while (knowing that in some summers, we couldnāt solve everything) and also had some bad luck this summer with the Guehi deal, I canāt fault anyone alone directly for that.
The defence in general (as our defending as a team needs massive improving) will need more help and more than just Guehi. Even if Konate stays (which could mean the end for Gomez).
Why would Real inform liverpool they arent going to pursue a deal with Ibou when that deal would have been a direct one between Real and the player?
6 Likes
I wonder if Liverpool approached them about a sale in the winter window? Not wanting to let him leave for nothing, and RM said ānah, we donāt really want him anymore, anyway.ā
It does do us a favor in the Ibou negotiations to have that out there. Also, it keeps us from trying to get his countryman at Bayern.
Heās gone from me fearing heād follow Trent to Real Madrid on a free to me hoping Liverpool would sell him for a nominal fee as soon as January window opened. Complete liability and a symptom of our lack of planning when it comes to central defence. Slot has his faults and they will cost him his Liverpool job but this loss is on Konate.
3 Likes
He somehow ducks under that cross on the third. Grav looks bad the way the ball just hits him, but heās quite reasonably surprised the ball made it that far without getting cleared
Itās crazy how heās completely lost the plot this season. At this point, I wouldnāt complain if we sold him in January and signed two central defenders (far easier said than done) if possible.
It might be down to him causing all this instability himself, not having signed a new deal, thinking about where heāll be in 6 months, other clubs, other managers, other styles of play, and with all of this swirling in his head, itās now affecting results for us.
He had the temerity to argue with Liverpool fans on Instagram more than three months ago, when he alternated between bad and imperious matches. Over the course of the last two months, I think I can remember only one or two matches where he didnāt make a mistake that would lead to a chance. Talk about weakening your hand in negotiationsā¦
1 Like
i always take issue with this kind of defenceā¦you hear it more applied in an attacking phaseā¦i mean, the ball shouldnt have gotten to him, fine, but the logic stops thereā¦at any level, you have to expect the ball to be getting through, and play the line it would followā¦
not talking about a deflection here, or even a situation where hes adjusting his body at an anticipated knock onā¦ its just purely the flight of the ballā¦
cant make my mind up whether its him or jones at fault for the second as well, certainly not Gomez for me, who had to step out, but then Ryan follows the ball out and Curtis hangs so far backā¦it was like a basic Rondo drill against cones.
Itās Ibou on all 3.
Needless challenge on the first. Drops off into no where then does nothing when the guy gets the ball for the second. Then the third he gets up but then ducks under the ball.
Heās playing like heās scared of defending
ill have another look at the second.
my thoughts were all on Ryan and Curtis role in giving that lad a free hall pass in the 18 yard box.
Itās totally a situation created by Ibou. We were set up fine before the ball went wide then, for no reason at all, he just dropped off back into his 6 yard box.
1 Like
Simple and basic defending we all should shuffle across one place to kill that space
which is why i first looked at Curtis.
iāll watch again soonā¦you dont always get the right call at first look.
Still 2 rights donāt make a wrong, but you look at other teams when in a low block that space is always filled.
I have been banging on about it both last season and this, we have a major issue with runners into that inside channel position on both sides of our defence, thatās one of the reasons I would like a back 3, from a defensive point of view only.