Jurgen Klopp has shared the reasons behind Ibrahima Konate’s omission from last night’s Liverpool squad to face West Ham United.
Konate was dropped from the 20 having started the Reds previous nine games. Worries inevitably reared that the centre-back was injured. But speaking in his post-match press conference after the 2-1 win, Klopp revealed that the centre-back could potentially have played.
“Ibou could have played. He’s not injured,” explained the manager. “But, in the last two or three weeks, he always had to rest like two days, one day, then half a session, stuff like this. I thought now we have to make sure that he can recover properly, that he doesn’t get injured, so that’s why we left him completely at home. That’s it pretty much.”
Konate struggling to stay fully fit
While good news that Konate should be fit to face Tottenham on Sunday, this should still be a slight concern to Liverpool supporters.
At twenty-three, Ibou shouldn’t be needing to rest after every game. That he isn’t able to train and compete fully is a real worry.
Obviously, it’s been a slightly weird season for the Frenchman. Niggly injuries have probably left him in the position where he isn’t completely fit, but such is his importance to the team, Liverpool have needed to keep playing him.
Hopefully that’s something that settles down over the summer. With a full break Konate should be back ready to go as normal next campaign. Fingers crossed.
In the end, it didn’t matter all that much anyway. Joel Matip turned in possibly his best display of the season, and capped it off with a winning bullet header.
With Joe Gomez also in reserve, Klopp isn’t exactly desperate to rush Ibou back in. The France international has been one of his better players this season though, and he’ll be needed up against Harry Kane on Sunday.