With much of the footballing world now on the beach following the end of the season, there is still work to be done for many Liverpool players.
Despite the domestic season ending for the Reds almost two weeks ago, plenty of the squad are away with their countries for the June internationals.
Liverpool fans had their eyes on Florian Wirtz on Wednesday as he aimed to make the UEFA Nations League final with Germany.
Wirtz failed in his mission as the Germans could not overcome a stubborn Portugal side.
Thursday saw the turn of Ibrahima Konate and France, with the Liverpool centre-back and his teammates meeting European champions Spain in Stuttgart.
Unfortunately, Konate’s night went the same way as Wirtz’s one day before, and the two will now meet in the third-place play-off on Sunday. And after a slightly harrowing 5-4 defeat for France, the Liverpool man was roundly criticised by the French media.
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Ibrahima Konate disappoints for France
There is no shame in losing to Spain these days and on the face of it France put up a decent enough fight.
However, while the eventual scoreline was decidedly close, this was not a fair fight. With just 11 minutes left to play, France were 5-1 down.
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Though they roared back and almost staged an incredible comeback, the damage had been done. According to RMC Sport, Konate played his part in that, with the outlet handing him a dreadful two out of ten rating.
The 26-year-old is accused of letting Mikel Oyarzabal get the better of him for the game’s opening goal and is said to have ‘suffered greatly’ from thereon in.
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Furthermore, it’s noted that Konate was ‘not the leader we know’ next to Clement Lenglet in defence and is also said to have been guilty of repeatedly losing the ball in dangerous areas.
Foot Mercato are equally scathing in their assessment, also handing Liverpool’s No. 5 a two out of ten rating. After what is described as a ‘solid start’, Konate is then claimed to have completely ‘collapsed.’
His failure to deal with Oyarzabal for the first goal of the night is again mentioned, and is said to have ‘destabilised’ his performance. From then on, Konate is said to have been ‘trembling’ at the prospect of dealing with the Spanish attack and could not bring the necessary calm to his defence.
Konate fails to grasp his chance
Although Konate is a regular in the France squad these days, he is still not guaranteed a place in the starting XI by Didier Deschamps.
The former RB Leipzig defender is often overlooked for both William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano.
But with both unavailable on Thursday, Konate was given a chance to show his credentials against a very good Spain team.
That France were swept aside is obviously not all down to Konate, but it is safe to say that he missed a big chance to lay down a marker in Stuttgart.
With Liverpool stuck in contract negotiations with Konate, these kinds of displays will not help him secure the big pay rise he is looking for either. A bad night all around.