19 Jun 2024 11:36:31
Konate had a bad couple of games so he's:
Washed
Done
Finished
Dead baller
Or any other e-red term you can think of.
Konate is a young defender with absolutely every tool at his disposal.
19 Jun 2024 12:01:52
I don't think Konate has ever been labelled them things.
But the best ability is availability and he's never fit. So if the opportunity of a sale and the right player is available, I would personally cash in and try and replace him.
19 Jun 2024 12:11:12
Mate, almost very single player has been bashed this past month or two, it's rediculous. Fed up of reading it to be honest. There's no loyalty these days to our players, I would understand more if a player is consistantly bloody terrible but none of them have been? Players have bad games, they can't be at their best every single game, give them a break.
19 Jun 2024 12:44:03
Konate is a great player and one I would happily have in the team. Unfortunately he is incapable of staying fit and can't be relied upon to play the required amount of games.
19 Jun 2024 12:44:49
Salah, old friend, how dare you question people's right to sling mud at players who play for the club which they support. That's scandalous in the extreme. ??.
19 Jun 2024 13:11:54
Lol love it, ra. Hope you're well mate :) .
19 Jun 2024 13:12:41
I Can't even enter this conversation.
19 Jun 2024 14:00:04
Indeed, @Salah. Someone called Konate a poor footballer on this site at the weekend. Can you imagine calling a player who has played some immense games for us in his time here, was MOTM in the '22 CL final and outplayed Saliba in the FA Cup tie at Arsenal as th leader of the defence with VVD out in Jan, poor footballer?
It's as if there is no perspective anymore. Klopp even said in a couple of his late season interview, that he could not understand how fans can bash the players the way they do just cos they had the audacity to have a band game whilst forgetting that, "they had played even worse in the past". Seems like a sign of the times, IMO.
19 Jun 2024 14:11:26
Yet you did ???.
19 Jun 2024 14:36:17
Salah, all fine and good thanks. Trying to remain sane in the off season. Resisting the urge to bash posters, players, teams, and managers all together, after reading the trends on here. But I've had success in staying neutral so far. ???.
19 Jun 2024 15:39:02
I have never said any of the things above about Konate, however I don't think he's top class. I do think he's our 3rd best CB behind Virgil and Quansah, but it's a bit blinkered in my opinion to imply he has no deficiencies.
Konate reminds me of Lovren. Not in terms of their attributes or characteristics because they're very different in that respect. However I think they have the same weakness and that is "football IQ" for want of better terminology.
Konate in my opinion has an issue where 9 times out of 10 he'll complete an action with no fuss and look great. Might be heading away a cross, making a 1v1 tackle, playing an incisive forward pass etc. He's capable of pretty much most things. However he just always has a mistake in him. I'm not talking like 2 or 3 high profile errors a season; every defender has those and they're always blown way out of proportion by the media for a story. I'm talking about small fundamental errors that occur several times throughout almost every game he plays. Small errors that repeatedly put us under pressure or result in our play breaking down.
For me, Konate is liable to things like misjudging a header completely, running forward with the ball and losing it, taking a poor touch, rushing out and clattering someone who was going away from goal, getting nudged off the ball, being too handsy instead of just playing the ball, playing a hospital pass etc. These are not things that happen as a result of him being technically or defensively incapable, but it just seems like he lacks concentration or consistently good judgement maybe? Or perhaps it's just rustiness because he can never stay fit for long enough to settle down and put a good run together.
Either way I don't want him as our first choice starter. I'm more than happy to have him in the squad because he seems like a good character and he is a decent Premier League level CB. I really just want what is best for Liverpool and if that is a crime, then arrest me officers! Because I don't think Konate being first choice is that.
For the record, I'm more than happy with Virgil and Quansah being first choice CB's next season so this isn't me pining for a shiny new toy. I think most of our issues were defensively as a team due to a lack of structure and intensity. I'd like Konate as back up to Quansah and a new CB to phase out Virgil gradually. Ideally that would've been Sepp vdB but he's shot his Liverpool career in the foot with his media comments I reckon.
I'm just saying it as I see it, without bias or and agenda.
19 Jun 2024 16:45:24
MK, there have also been games where he has been better of the two center backs between him and Virgil, and others where klopp just chopped and changed Virgil’s partner even though Ibou or Jarrell played well the previous game, whether that‘s because he doesn’t think ibou can play two games a week is up for speculation, but it hasn’t always been because ibou isn’t fit, that’s as far as I can remember anyway.
19 Jun 2024 17:16:30
But for the injuries i'd have him in the top handful of CB's in the league. Bar Virg and Saliba im struggling to think o anyone better.
19 Jun 2024 17:16:52
He is rash, positionally inept, and seems to not have the smarts to not push the attacker in the back and give away soft free kicks constantly that cost us goals.
Add to that the injuries he seems to be another player who we had high hopes for that imo will never reach the levels we had hoped. Quansah is already ahead of him in nearly every aspect. Great to have on the bench but not a starting centre back for a club like Liverpool.
19 Jun 2024 17:27:30
Thiago Silva, Ruben Dias, John Stones.
{Ed001's Note - Stones? He is not a good defender, never has been and never will be.}
19 Jun 2024 17:56:48
Thiago Silva of this season? Dias hardly plays.
19 Jun 2024 18:50:22
Oli, it was me that called Konate a poor footballer and I stand by it.
When I say footballer I mean one that is comfortable on the ball, can pick a pass and doesn't panic when pressured in possession. I think of Hansen, Lawrenson, VVD etc as good footballers not Konate.
I also class footballers as good decision makers and that doesn't include Konate. The derby being a good example when DCL made a fool of him. Konate continued to try and win the ball early even after giving free kicks away and DCL outmuscling him almost every time.
He might be a good defender but he's too rash, panicky and uncomfortable in possession to be a good footballer.
And I'll give you some more perspective, mate. Konate was not MotM in the CL final. It was Courtois.
19 Jun 2024 20:35:50
The derby was his worst game of the season, but every player in our squad has had a similarly poor game. And Rigsby Ibou was imperious in that final.
19 Jun 2024 21:42:49
He played well, from memory, June.
Not well enough to be MotM which is the point I was making.
The derby was a good example of Konate's poor decision making. There are others which I can't remember so I just used the good one.
19 Jun 2024 22:20:32
I like Konate. I don't see the hopeless defender that he seems to be as it feels like when I read comments on here.
Strong, fast and deceptively good technique bit like Matip.
I just think it's better we stick with him, help him continue to develop his body and we get the best out of him rather than take a multi-million dollar punt on someone else.
19 Jun 2024 22:28:41
To be honest I can think of a lot of CB’s in the Prem better than Konate (in my opinion, sure other posters and Eds may disagree) .
Virgil, Quansah, Saliba, Gabriel, Dias, Akanji, Varane, Branthwaite, Botman, Anderson, Torres, Carlos. That’s just off the top of my head but I’d personally say they’re all better or at least as good.
To reiterate I think Konate is a decent Prem CB, and PB is right when he says that at times he has outperformed Virgil even. But he just isn’t consistent or reliable enough. His fitness issues may even be the root cause of it all. Must be hard to be at the top of your game when you’re constantly carrying or recovering from injuries.
{Ed001's Note - how can you say that is the reason for Konate but include Varane, who is far more injury prone, inconsistent and unreliable? Also not that good when at his best, but ridicously overrated as he played for Madrid.}
19 Jun 2024 22:41:27
Same things were said about Sakho on here. Fans get too attached. Konate will be replaced and forgotten about because he’s not good enough for Liverpool Football Club.
19 Jun 2024 23:43:32
I meant them as separate points Ed001. Initially, I was just answering the question posed by June Nkunku about who is better than Konate in the Prem “but for injuries” to quote June directly. You can’t answer that by taking Konate’s injuries out as a factor, but then not do the same for the others in the league or it’s an unfair and pointless comparison.
I wouldn’t want Varane as our starting CB either due to his injuries, but I do think when fit he is better than Konate. Not by a lot, but he edges it for me. More composed.
I’ve waited patiently for years for Konate to stay fit and show some consistency and in the end Quansah came along and beat him to the punch. The way I see it, Quansah is showing rapid progression whilst Konate is no better than when we signed him 3 years ago. That’s not me saying he’s a bad player, but I think it’s time we moved on from hoping he’ll be a 38 game a season starting CB that will take us to major trophies like the PL and CL.
{Ed001's Note - sorry but Varane is terrible defensively, being composed is no good if you are 5 yards out of position.}
20 Jun 2024 10:31:46
Rigsby "I think of Hansen, Lawrenson, VVD. ".
So you are ranking a young CB who clearly has great potential and has played a ton of good to great games for us and can still improve, to the giants of the game at LFC? Sorry, your comparison is the stuff of absolute waffle.
You can pick out individual games to support your point. You know what? I could pick out individual games where he was immense say, a MOTM in a CL final (something you conveniently NEVER addressed) so that is irrelevant.
Does Konate need to improve? Yes BUT to say he is porr footballer despite the great games he had for us is wide of the mark, IMO.peace..
20 Jun 2024 16:29:34
Oli, my guy, I wasn't ranking Konate and those three. I was telling you who I classed as good footballers and why. Konate is a good athlete and could be a good defender but he is a poor footballer.
A ton of good to great games? How many games has he played for us? Go on, address that.
I've addressed your MotM in a CL final waffle twice but I'll do it again: Thibaut Courtois was MotM in the CL final you are talking about.