Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the Premier League came to an end at Selhurst Park, and the post-match discussion focused heavily on a defensive performance that left us exposed.
Richards questions Konate’s start to the season
Speaking on Match of the Day, Micah Richards admitted that Ibou Konate’s form is giving him cause for concern.
“Konate is starting to worry me a little bit,” the former Manchester City defender explained.
“Him and Van Dijk have been a good partnership, but his individual errors at this moment in time are just making the backline look a bit nervy.
“You know Liverpool always look good in defence, Van Dijk always marshals the backline, but they give Palace too many opportunities for no actual reason, it was just being sloppy, and that is so unlike Liverpool.”
The French centre-back has already endured some uncertain moments earlier this campaign, with Richards drawing comparisons to his shaky outing against Bournemouth.
Liverpool need stability in defence
The late winner from Eddie Nketiah was the final blow on a day where Alisson Becker kept us in the game for long spells.
Federico Chiesa’s equaliser looked like it would secure a point, but the collapse in stoppage time only underlined Richards’ point that we were nervy at the back.
With Giovanni Leoni now sidelined, our head coach is left with just Joe Gomez as a recognised alternative in central defence, making Konate’s consistency even more vital.
What complicates matters further is that this was the same game where Florian Wirtz was denied from close range and Alexander Isak missed a one-on-one, showing that our issues stretched across the pitch, not just in defence.
So far this season, we’ve conceded six goals in six league matches, and although that doesn’t look alarming on paper, the manner of those chances has been troubling.
Defending is a team effort though and it was the role of one attacker for Palace’s late winner that seemed to draw most concern from Slot.
Our boss will be expected to restore stability quickly, especially with a Champions League trip to Galatasaray on the horizon.
Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile
I would say that konate has had his head turned, he doesn’t want to sign a new contract and can’t wait to join Real Madrid. You can’t though just keep blaming one player for the way we are defending, it’s a collective effort, it’s how the team is set up without the ball. We are now dropping back without the ball and for years most of the players have been coaching to play a high line, playing for the offside and pressing high up to win the ball back. Set pieces defending has gone worse under slot, we don’t have a world class defensive midfielder to protect the defence, and there’s no competition at central defence to put pressure on konate or van dijk. Why slot keeps putting szoboszlai at right back is beyond me. At the moment we are not good at anything, defending, pressing, passing. Count in a game how many times this Liverpool team keep giving the ball away. Three times within a few months couldn’t beat palace. Palace are not a great team, they don’t have any great players, but they well drilled, they do the simple things very well. Liverpool are not well coached. We are a mess. We’ve got away with it for far too long. Slots luck has run out. Now we’ll see how good he really is. He’s been living off what klopp left him.
If that’s true, Arne really shouldn’t be picking him.
The same as if he’s got an injury that affects his judgement/ability to quickly react.
I’d rather see a ¾ fit Gomez in there (or a regular reserve player).
Again, think about using paragraphs for your points of opinion, it makes your missive legible and not just look a jumbled train of broken biscuits.
We can have a more intelligent (and based upon the reality of being top of the league, optimistic) group discussion.
I think that coaches make the mistake of having own teams and getting rid of what they find as a team. Slot is falling into the same problem. Florian hasn’t gotten off well because he is playing like he played wherever they got him. He doesn’t press and release balls fast enough opting to keep the ball while braking the flow of play. Isak has not done better. I think both must learn from the other players like Jones, Gakpo and Salah. It will improve their play and take the pressure of the defenders
Same style as R Misty, Denny.
Unintelligible stream of thought, tbh.
Gomez is much better than Konate
On current form I can’t disagree.
Ibou has a choice.
He can pull his socks up and help us get another title and possibly a seventh CL, then go in the summer (because he can’t play CL for another club this year now).
Or he can continue this form, go for a free in January and lose out on a greater chance of silverware.
Once his career’s over he won’t be looking back with pride at the money.
These footballers are already multi-millionaires.
How much do they want and how much do they need ?
Personally, I’ll be hoping his class is permanent.