The adulation for Ibrahima Konate among Liverpool supporters increased as the humiliation of Manchester United went on at Old Trafford.
Just nine minutes in, with Liverpool already 1-0 up, Konate had Cristiano Ronaldo on his backside; a tackle left the United forward sat with his arms outstretched as his protests towards referee Anthony Taylor were waved away.
In first-half stoppage time Konate then quickly rushed over when Ronaldo kicked the ball into Curtis Jones, defending his team-mate, giving Bruno Fernandes a shove, and keeping Fred in line for good measure.
Mo Salah’s historic hat-trick may have taken the headlines from Liverpool’s perspective, but this was a statement performance from 22-year-old Konate, who in just his second Premier League start recorded a match-high eight clearances and now has an Old Trafford clean sheet, something United star signing Raphael Varane cannot yet boast.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Jordan Henderson said afterwards. “We’ve got a few very, very good centre-backs so it’s difficult, but I thought he was top class. You’ve got to be to get a clean sheet at Old Trafford, so I’m delighted for him.”
The Liverpool captain was not alone in praising Konate, with Andrew Robertson describing his 6ft 5in defensive team-mate as a “giant” who has settled in quickly since moving from RB Leipzig in the summer.
Meanwhile, assistant manager Pep Lijnders called the player a “beast” for coming in and helping control United’s attacking quartet of Ronaldo, Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford.
Klopp: Konate a machine
By Richard Tanner
Konate has been described as “a machine built for the Premier League” by Klopp, who looks set to give the young French defender an extended run in his Liverpool team.
Klopp said: “I’m not surprised how quickly he has adapted. He is an incredible talent. He came really young [from France] to Germany and that is a tough league to play for a young centre half and he did that incredibly well.
“He has come to England and he is built for the Premier League, physique-wise. He is a machine, he has the speed we need, he likes challenges, he has a really good football knowledge, he anticipates situations really early, so it is a really good package.
“You never know how long things will take but he is a really good boy, completely integrated in the group here. And it helps here that he speaks really good English which is a bit of surprise for a French guy who was in Germany. That has helped him settle into the group as well.”
The performance has presented Jurgen Klopp with a centre-back selection headache heading into Saturday’s match against Brighton at Anfield, but for the Liverpool boss it is a welcome one after last season’s injury problems.
“There are a few decisions I need to make – thank God,” Klopp said. “It means we have options. The bad times are when you don’t have options. It’s about who looks the most likely to help us win the game. Hopefully it is the right decision.”
Starting Virgil van Dijk is a given when the Dutchman is fit, leaving Konate as fresh competition for Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, while Nathaniel Phillips has dropped to fifth-choice after helping Liverpool through their struggles last term.
“The boys get along really well with each other, all five of them, that’s really nice to see. They respect each other a lot,” said Klopp, who is yet to start Gomez in the Premier League but has played the England international in both Carabao Cup games so far.
Liverpool’s starting centre-back pairings
- Van Dijk & Matip: 9 appearances (7 PL, 2 UCL) – 9 goals conceded
- Van Dijk & Konate: 2 (2 PL) – 0
- Gomez & Matip: 2 (1 Carabao Cup, 1 UCL) – 2
- Gomez & Konate: 1 (Carabao Cup) – 0
Gomez joined Van Dijk on the sidelines in November last season, and persistent problems for Matip as well saw Phillips play a larger role in the second half of 2020-21, so too Rhys Williams and loan signing Ozan Kabak – with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho also deployed at centre-back.
Klopp added: “It was always clear we had to bring a centre-half in. In the moment all five [are fit] and really I have mention Nate Phillips playing the second half against Preston. He looks a completely different player to last year – a top-class centre-half and he’s not playing [regularly] as well.
“Now Ibou [Konate] came in and for us we have to deal with Joey, with the intensity, and we are not even halfway through the season and we are talking about these things.
“Hopefully nobody gets injured through the year. You have to be on top of your game for the moment when you come in and convince everybody. We will need them and we will need Joe, his quality is incredible, we all know that, we’ve seen that in a lot of moments.
“We have only top-class players in that position and that makes it harder.”
As Klopp points out, it is only late October, but Konate’s arrival and Phillips’ improvement has left Liverpool far better equipped than they were at this point last year, consigning the Fabinho-Henderson pairing to the history books even if an injury or two does occur.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3boy0Bd
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