Alan Pardew has suggested that two Liverpool teammates ‘look like they have had a row’ with one another.
Aside from a 5-1 drubbing of Eintracht Frankfurt, the past month has been calamitous for the Reds, with four successive Premier League defeats seeing them drop to seventh in the table and have their title credentials written off by many.
An alarming defensive record has dogged Arne Slot’s side this season, with 14 top-flight goals conceded already (nine of those over the last four games), compared to only three for table-topping Arsenal.
Pardew makes worrying Van Dijk and Konate claim
Pardew appeared on talkSPORT on Monday to sift through the wreckage of Liverpool’s latest setback against Brentford at the weekend, and he went as far as to claim that Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk may have had a disagreement behind the scenes.
The former Newcastle manager said: “Konate and Van Dijk genuinely look like they have had a row. I don’t know, maybe he is nicking Van Dijk’s meal at the training ground!
“There seems to be a lack of… the one thing about centre-backs is they look after their full-back and each other. That is the key to a back four. Neither are doing that job, so therefore, that is a massive problem for Liverpool.”
Liverpool don’t need teammates at loggerheads with each other
If there’s one thing the Reds absoluely do not need right now, it’s for teammates to be falling out with each other, especially those who play as partnerships as Van Dijk and Konate do at centre-back.
Micah Richards did suggest that the 34-year-old Dutchman ‘needs help’ from the Frenchman but isn’t getting it, with Alan Shearer bluntly declaring that the duo have been ‘awful’ in recent games.
The defensive pairing were immense last season as Liverpool romped to Premier League glory, but their effectiveness as a partnership has nosedived over the past couple of months.
Part of that might be down to Van Dijk in particular feeling obligated to cover for the frailties shown by the Reds’ full-backs, with a loss of the chemistry that he and Konate had formed with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson either side of them becoming apparent this term.
We’d like to think that Pardew is merely being melodramatic in suggesting that our centre-back duo have been at loggerheads behind the scenes.
Players will exchange harsh words on the training pitch and in matches, which is fine so long as it isn’t allowed to evolve into a deeper falling out between teammates.
At the moment everyone has an opinion on what’s wrong with this Liverpool team. Most of it is utter drivel, from failed managers who didn’t have a clue, that’s why they are now third rate pundits.
Most of it from Wayne rooney.
From an old fan’s observation, the fullbacks are the inconsistency today. The understanding is not yet developed and both van dijk and konate have to do extra defending to cover the counter attacks left by gaps from the fullbacks. That is why it is important to stabilize the defence with fullbacks like Gomez and Robertson who have built years of chemistry with the centrebacks. Kerkez and frimpong/Bradley are the future and they have the time to be slowly bedded into the team. Slot does not have to be bothered about comments on whether this is his team or klopp’s team. As long as he delivers silverware year in year out, doubters will be silenced.
Liverpool’s defensive problem in one word, Virgil.
Always waiting for someone else to do the hard work for him. Doesn’t sprint, doesn’t tackle and doesn’t track his man. He only waits for loose balls.
Sorry but I think that’s rubbish
Are you guys paid to launder VvD’s image? He is never where the ball is, then backing away from the opponent in 1v1s, doesn’t sprint. If I was Konate and Kerkez, I’d be mad at him. The kid on the left doesn’t get much help from him.
More concise but still of some concern in terms of content.
Not the thoughts of genuine fans, neph.
It appears the rage referring nom-de-plume is a case of nominative determinism.
A cold rage. Determined and worth further investigation.
Looks catching too…
No pal, we’ll run it upstairs and they can see if it’s sourced from one origin, then take advice.
To vent such a few times could be considered just a phase, but a persistent campaign using as many opportunities as this, could be sign of negative obsessive behaviour.
The club are wary with guidelines, duty of care etc.
The ‘net history should suffice.
Get rid of half the foreign players and bring in some home nations players who are willing to work for their wages. Also, the manager inherited a good team from Klopp and won the league but there weren’t much opposition last year with the exception of Arsenal, so is he good enough for the job? I don’t think he is.