The vast majority of Liverpool’s first-team squad have been away on international duty for the last week or so.
The Reds were one of the best teams in the world last season, as they ran away with the Premier League title.
And, while the international break may have halted some of their new arrivals from gelling with their teammates, it will have given Arne Slot some time to look back and review each of the three top-flight games they’ve played.
There have been some dodgy performances from the Reds already this term; however, one player seems to have turned a corner while representing his country.
Ibrahima Konate’s performance wows French media
Ibrahima Konate’s form for Liverpool has been way off the pace this season.
The centre-back has been full of mistakes with the Reds’ fans seemingly hoping that they’d sign Marc Guehi before the summer transfer window slammed shut.
And, although that never came to fruition, it seems as if Konate may have now turned a corner and could end up coming back from the international break with some newfound confidence.
That is, according to French media, with Maxifoot saying that he was very ‘precise’ with his performance.
“A decent performance for the Liverpool rock. Overall, the French central defender was serious about stopping Iceland’s attempts in his zone,” they wrote.
“In his clearances, the Tricolore was very precise in finding his teammates and in duels, he was rather interesting due to his aggressiveness.
“He had a close call at the end of the game when A. Guðjohnsen’s goal was disallowed for a foul – very well sold – signalled by the VAR.”
Foot Mercato had similar thoughts on Konate’s performance, with the French outlet lauding the centre-back’s positioning.
“The coach had decided to field the same central defence, and rightly so,” they wrote.
“The Liverpool defender managed his zone rather well and covered when necessary, like on this long ball near the touchline where Upamenaco moved up (27th).
“He was too short to counter Gudjohnsen but he did not have time to react to the poor back pass from Olise (22nd).
“The Parisian native had a quiet evening, which could have turned sour if the referee had validated Gudjohnsen’s second goal without this very slight foul on the Red (88th).”
And lastly, Le Figaro said that it didn’t look like Konate was ‘worried’ at all throughout the game.
“This is not the kind of match that can be used to assess Liverpool’s rock,” they wrote.
“Even at the end, when Iceland pushed (a little), he wasn’t particularly worried. At least until Iceland’s second goal, which was… ultimately disallowed due to a shirt pull.”
Ibrahima Konate must bring this form with him back to Liverpool
Although Konate’s performances improved a little when Liverpool faced Arsenal in their last game before the international break, in their previous clashes against Bournemouth and Newcastle, the Frenchman seemed like the weak link.
Indeed, Virgil van Dijk managed to cover for Konate’s mistakes in the Reds’ opening game against Bournemouth, but it felt like he didn’t even learn from them when they faced Newcastle.
Last season, Konate was one of the best centre-backs in the league, but due to the amount of pressure upon his shoulders because of his contract situation, he’s miles off the pace.
Liverpool and the centre-back need to come to an agreement regarding his future soon, as all of these rumours linking him with a move to Real Madrid aren’t likely to be helping him all that much.
At the moment, it’s anyone’s guess what could happen, but if the centre-back could just bring some of his form from the international break to Anfield, Liverpool would be in a much better place.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
