Arne Slot has seen his Liverpool side struggle in defensive areas in recent weeks.placeholder image
Arne Slot has seen his Liverpool side struggle in defensive areas in recent weeks. | Getty Images
Arne Slot might have lost patience with this Liverpool man after his performance against Nottingham Forest
Liverpool saw things go from bad to worse on Saturday as Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest came to Anfield and returned to the midlands with a memorable 3-0 victory, as the Reds capitulated once again.
Consecutive three-goal defeats have seen the Reds treble their number of league blanks without scoring under Arne Slot, with serious concerns mounting following tentative shoots of recovery against Aston Villa and Real Madrid preceded a comprehensive defeat at Manchester City. The international break has clearly not helped remedy the situation.
Several players and off-field factors can be cited for Liverpool’s demise since late September, which has seen the champions lose an unprecedented eight times in 11 matches in all competitions.
But one player’s performances have been consistently below-par, and it appears after events on Saturday that Slot might finally have lost patience with one of his first-team stars after a thoroughly disappointing start to the season.
Slot might have finally lost patience with Ibrahima Konate
As the Reds’ head coach dragged off Ibrahima Konate after just 55 minutes on Saturday, it became clear that three months of poor showings might have taken their toll as the France defender was substituted early with his side 2-0 behind. Konate was rated a 4/10 for his performance.
Replaced by Hugo Ekitike as Slot opted for a more attacking system, Konate’s place at centre-back was taken by midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, reflecting Slot’s lack of trust in contract rebel Konate at present. Continuously courted by Real Madrid, the defender might have already clocked out of Anfield mentally - and it is showing on the pitch.
The sloppy mistakes would continue throughout his 55 minutes on the pitch. As Konate was substituted, appearing to smile to himself as he left the field, former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson declared on BBC Radio 5 Live: "The way Konate has played today, I reckon Ekitike could even drop in there and do a better job."
While that might have been a slight exaggeration, there is no doubt that Slot should drop Konate for the upcoming fixtures.
Slot should drop Konate - possibly for good
Liverpool are not blessed with an array of central defensive options at present, but Joe Gomez is fit and deserves a run in the side over the vastly underperforming Konate. No matter if he intends to stay at the club or not, Konate needs to spend some time out of the side in order to regain his hunger and desire to perform, which has been missing for much of the season so far.
With defenders such as Marc Guehi, Alessandro Bastoni and Dayot Upamecano continually linked, the Reds would be smart to move on from Konate quickly ahead of his inevitable departure at some point. There are many upgrades to the former RB Leipzig defender on the market, and even the starved of game-time Gomez would likely put in more of a shift at present.
Konate has had a successful time at Liverpool overall, particularly showing his best performances last season as the Reds won the Premier League title at a canter. He formed a strong partnership with Virgil van Dijk and forced Jarell Quansah out of the club in search of more regular first-team football. But Konate’s form has fallen off a cliff so far this season, and it is time for Liverpool to move on and find a replacement.
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