Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Liverpool star outshone the “best defender in the world” for his country

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Liverpool reached a critical juncture at the end of the 2023/24 season, with Jurgen Klopp stepping down and arguably the club’s three most powerful players—Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Mohamed Salah—approaching the conclusive year of their contracts.

Klopp’s gone and the esteemed triumvirate’s futures still stretch into foggy uncertainty. But Arne Slot is proving himself to be quite the successor – with Michael Edwards back in the boardroom, was there ever any doubt?

The squad have gone from strength to strength this season, winning nine from ten across all competitions and perching atop the Premier League table after seven fixtures, albeit with a horrible run of fixtures coming up.

Liverpool’s Upcoming Fixtures

Date

Opponent

Competition

20/10/24

Chelsea (H)

Premier League

23/10/24

RB Leipzig (A)

Champions League

27/10/24

Arsenal (A)

Premier League

30/10/24

Brighton (A)

Carabao Cup

02/11/24

Brighton (H)

Premier League

05/11/24

Bayer Leverkusen (H)

Champions League

09/11/24

Aston Villa (H)

Premier League

The one stain on the record came immediately after the September international break, with Nottingham Forest shocking Anfield and coming away with a 1-0 victory. Slot will hope that his players have kept their fluency intact this time.

Liverpool’s international break

Liverpool have had a whole host of players performing for their nations over the past week and while Slot is back on the training ground preparing for the looming fixture against Chelsea, the squad will filter through bit by bit.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot

Salah is among those to have returned early, having been granted leave from Egypt’s camp last weekend after scoring during a 2-0 victory over Mauritania. Virgil van Dijk also played just one match after being sent off against Dominik Szoboszlai’s Hungary on Friday evening.

Fresh legs from two of the club’s most important stars could be crucial ahead of the Chelsea game – Van Dijk in particular will shoulder the tough task of subduing Cole Palmer and co.

With Van Dijk absent, the Netherlands were defeated by Germany on Monday evening, with Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo both flattering to deceive in their worst displays of the 2024/25 campaign, by a stretch.

For the Three Lions, Alexander-Arnold picked up yet another Man of the Match award in his post-Gareth Southgate world, with Curtis Jones also receiving a call-up but not earning his first senior cap, returning early due to the birth of his daughter.

Saka-Palmer-Gordon-England-Alexander-Arnold-Bellingham

Ibrahima Konate also showcased his defensive acumen for France, winning matches against Israel and Belgium and even being awarded the armband in the latter in a significant act of support from Didier Deschamps.

Ibrahima Konate’s performance vs Belgium

Van Dijk has earned all the plaudits for his performances in defence this season – and rightly so. But let’s spare a moment to hail the quality of Konate, who has raised his game several degrees after tapering off under Klopp last year.

Long acknowledged for his high-level skillset but also a propensity for mistakes and an injury-ridden record, Konate has proved the doubters wrong and is now an intrinsic part of Slot’s table-topping Liverpool, who have conceded twice from seven Premier League fixtures.

Ibrahima-Konate-France-Belgium-Nations-League

His performances at club level have translated over to Les Bleus, for Konate has been a pillar over the past few matches, making a series of crucial clearances against Belgium in a storming display that saw him trump his central defensive partner William Saliba by some distance.

In their post-match ratings, Get French Football News handed him a 6/10 match rating. Nothing special, but a number bettered only by Randal Kolo Muani, who bagged a brace in the 2-1 victory. Saliba, conversely, was slapped with a 3/10 score after a torrid outing.

The Arsenal centre-back – who has previously been described as the “best defender in the world” by compatriot Frank LeBoeuf – lost both of his ground duels, conceded the penalty which Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans blazed over, while also making a direct error which led to a glorious Belgium opportunity.

He was overshadowed by Konate’s composed and imposing presence, who will be heading back to Merseyside full of confidence that he can indeed keep the Blues at bay on Sunday – before testing his metal against Arsenal and Saliba at the Emirates Stadium just one week later.

Ibrahima Konate’s importance for Arne Slot

The 6 foot 4 Konate has started eight of Liverpool’s nine combined Premier League and Champions League fixtures this season, scoring twice and registering an assist.

Ibrahima Konate for Liverpool

He was introduced at half-time for Jarell Quansah on the opening day against Ipswich Town and has not been dislodged since, with his younger positional peer limited to Carabao Cup opportunities to showcase his skills.

This is interesting, for the 25-year-old played from the outset across six of the Reds’ first 16 top-flight games last year. In fact, Konate has never completed more than 17 league starts in a single year since joining from RB Leipzig in a £36m deal in 2021, something that he looks likely to eclipse under Slot’s wing.

As per FBref, the French titan ranks among the top 12% of Premier League centre-backs this season for goals scored and assists claimed (0.16), as well as the top 5% for aerial battles won per 90 (3.95).

Moreover, those aerial battles have been won at an absurd success rate of 86.5%, which surpasses even that of the renowned headed phenomenon Van Dijk, whose success rate is marked at ‘just’ 73% this season.

Ibrahima-Konate-Liverpool

There’s so much football yet to play – who knows how Konate will fare as the forthcoming period ramps up and the gruelling run of games buffet Liverpool like hail.

But the signs are there that he’s reached a different level this year, and alongside Van Dijk, anything is possible. After all, given that he’s outstripped Saliba for France, he’s clearly got the tools for the occasion.

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