Jamie Carragher singled out one 'shocking' Liverpool star for criticism as the defending Premier League champions managed to avoid an embarrassing start to the new campaign with a 4-2 win over Bournemouth at Anfield. The Reds had given themselves a comfortable two-goal lead thanks to Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo, but were pegged back by an Antoine Semenyo double after the winger had been subject to racist abuse from the stands.
While Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah managed to score late on to ensure victory, it was another example of Arne Slot's men looking vulnerable at the back, following on from a shaky performance in the Community Shield against Crystal Palace. And one player in particular faced the wrath of Carragher, who was not best pleased with what he saw.
Carragher Singles Out One Liverpool Star
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While there were several underwhelming performances in red shirts, from Florian Wirtz to Milos Kerkez, Carragher honed in on Ibrahima Konate's display and laid into the French international at full-time.
Konate was involved in both goals the hosts conceded, failing to close down David Brooks before his cross found Semenyo for the first and then allowing the Bournemouth star to have all the time in the world on the edge of the box after a surging run to find the equaliser.
With a less than stellar showing, Carragher was quick to point out the disappointing offing from Konate, saying:
"It is unbelievable. Arne Slot's made those changes to make sure things like this don't happen. Fantastic from Semenyo - but Liverpool have had this problem. How many players were ahead of the ball - maybe eight players - when they were winning 2-1? That can't happen. It's absolutely shocking at this level.
"For Semenyo to run that far and get his shot away is incredible - but where Konate is going? He had a really, really poor night tonight at centre-back. That is not right. It's not. It's not only game on top of the Community Shield - but I've watched enough football in my life. This idea that everyone bombs forward, it's not for me. I don't like it."
Carragher's post-match comments weren't the only ones he aimed at the defender either, as he had labelled the 26-year-old as 'shocking' during his co-commentary duties for Sky Sports.
Konate failed to make a single tackle or interception during the game, and came away with just one block as he won only 50% of his duels on the night. And with new signing Giovanni Leoni potentially eager to try and prove he is already ready for first-team football, Konate may be under pressure to perform at a much higher level in the coming weeks if he wants to maintain his spot in the starting XI.