Arne Slot must take some drastic action in order to stop Liverpool’s slide towards the bottom half of the Premier League table.
The Reds slipped to 11th after an unthinkably bad 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
There were plenty of reasons for Liverpool‘s abysmal performance, but one of the worst on the pitch once again was Ibrahima Konate.
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Konate has been in dreadful form all season, but after Giovanni Leoni was ruled out for the whole campaign, Slot has little option but to keep him in the side.
Joe Gomez is the only real, natural alternative, but the England international has well documented injury problems of his own. Gomez was not fit enough to play on Saturday, but after Konate’s latest horror show, Slot has to come up with a different plan.
Wataru Endo in action for Liverpool during the Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Wataru Endo is key to Liverpool’s plan B
While Gomez would be the best option to play instead of Konate, he certainly cannot keep up with the fixture list Liverpool are faced with this winter.
On Saturday, Slot decided to pull Ryan Gravenberch back to centre-back after taking Konate off, and this looks like a good plan moving forward.
Gravenberch has been disappointing recently, looking a far cry from the Young Player of the Premier League season of last year.
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Should Liverpool sack Arne Slot?
Arne Slot following Liverpool v Nottingham Forest - Premier League
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool look like they need a more orthodox defensive midfielder, and that should mean Wataru Endo finally gets a chance to prove himself.
With Endo in the No. 6 and Gravenberch behind, Liverpool will already look more solid.
Endo struck up a brilliant partnership with Alexis Mac Allister during the 2023/24 season and there’s no reason the two players cannot rekindle that in the coming weeks.
Slot does not often trust the Japan captain, but he has shown in the past that he can be trusted in this Liverpool team. In lieu of other options, this looks like a way home for the Reds.
Liverpool must find solutions without Ibrahima Konate
Whether Konate is entering his final months as a Liverpool player is not yet known. But it certainly looks to be heading that way.
What is abundantly clear is that the Frenchman is in the worst form of his Reds career.
Should Liverpool sack Arne Slot?
As Rousing The Kop wrote in the aftermath of Saturday’s game, you couple those things together, and Konate’s time at Liverpool is over. He should no longer be Slot’s first choice pick.
Clearly, a natural centre-back would be preferred – and Liverpool can solve that in January. Until then, however, Slot can use his versatile options to create a more stable foundation for the Reds defence.
Endo and Gravenberch could even alternate roles during games to give the opposition something else to think about. However it works in practice, Slot simply has to throw caution to the wind at take the worst performing player out of the team, by hook or by crook.