Liverpool star now ‘a much bigger problem than Salah’

Liverpool have not had their greatest kind this season, however Arne Slott’s aspect have received their final two video games (towards Inter Milan and Brighton & Hove Albion) and have stored a clear sheet in each video games.

The Premier League champions have been within the highlight this season, having been relegated from combating to defend their title to combating for kind adequate to maintain tempo with the pack within the high half of the desk.

It wasn’t adequate, and among the performances lacked consistency and depth, have been inexcusable and much from final season’s degree.

Who higher to sum up this downturn than Ibrahima Konate, who has had so many poor and error-filled performances?

Konate’s poor kind

Liverpool have some of the proficient groups in Europe and Konate falls into that class, having been hailed by analyst Raj Chohan as ‘top-of-the-line centre-backs on the planet’ in the course of the 2023-24 season.

However there are too many holes in his recreation. The 26-year-old has been an utter catastrophe this season, enjoying a central position in a porous protection.

Konate was a pillar of energy for Slott’s staff final season and was the proper counterpoint alongside Virgil van Dijk. And once we take a more in-depth take a look at the hunch for the reason that summer time, it is attention-grabbing to notice that the defender truly retains lots of his core qualities.

The issue, after all, is that Konate has made too many errors on the sphere and is affected by a disaster of confidence.

This sparked a flurry of criticism, a lot of it well-deserved. Nevertheless, Konate is a monster centre-half and has confirmed himself as a key member of Premier League successful groups.

Will he be capable to bounce again and show he is value his salt like he as soon as was? Current outcomes counsel he could also be on monitor to attain that, with Liverpool truly boasting two clear sheets on the trot after their disastrous capitulation at Elland Highway.

Slott additionally backed his defensive deputy after Liverpool beat Inter 2-0 on the San Siro, saying he wished to “spotlight” Les Bleus’ expertise. Then, within the Premier League towards Brighton, Konate received 10 video games, finishing a run of consecutive clear sheets.

Is he turning a nook? In all probability so. And Konate is just not the one dropout within the Merseyside aspect this season, with one other pink man prone to changing the weakest hyperlink in Liverpool’s staff at centre-back.

Liverpool’s new greatest drawback

You may suppose Mohamed Salah’s tumultuous few weeks at Liverpool proceed right here. Since making his explosive assertion towards Leeds in early December, the Egyptian attacker has made it completely clear that his relationship with Slott has damaged down after being left off the bench for 3 video games in a row.

He was then disregarded of Liverpool’s journey to Italy and was on the bench towards Brighton, however he got here on from the bench and made a big impact.

All these of Liverpool’s persuasion stay hopeful that Salah will stay on the membership till a minimum of the tip of the season, and he might proceed to play a key position within the membership’s probabilities of success by the tip of the sport.

However outstanding Liverpool fan spokesperson John Sullivan mentioned left-winger Kodi Gakpo was changing into a “a lot greater drawback than Salah”. Gakpo is at present injured and has missed the membership’s current wins. The slot not too long ago modified its system and this diamond-shaped setup has introduced indicators of success. Gakpo is absent on account of damage.

Gakpo, 26, has not confronted any criticism this season. He has all the time been criticized for his one-dimensional play on the left, missing nuance and aptitude, and for leaving followers saddened by the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich in the summertime.

The Dutchman stays a prolific participant with 5 targets and 4 assists this season, however there isn’t a doubt that his customary cut-inside strategy on the left is changing into drained, particularly contemplating he averages one shot on track each two Premier League appearances in keeping with SofaScore.

Regardless of such a powerful inflow of world-class attacking expertise, Liverpool have misplaced a few of their dynamism within the remaining third this season. Regardless of their pressing want for a centre-half, there’s a motive why FSG are eager on Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo.

Think about the current resurgence of Milos Kerkes as additional proof of Gakpo’s problematic presence as the one full-fledged left winger in Liverpool’s squad. Kerkes, 21, joined Liverpool from Bournemouth in the summertime however is a hostile left-back in a system with slots in decline, utilizing flattery to deceive.

However he’s progressing now and has gone from energy to energy in the previous few video games for Liverpool. Towards Brighton he was given license to advance, and consequently the athletic Hungarian received eight duels.

Though Salah is getting older, he stays some of the highly effective threats on the planet and it’s important that we proceed to make use of him for the rest of the season. However Gakpo is underperforming in different methods, and certainly suffers from stylistic flaws that may’t be mounted with out a big-money, Diaz-style contract.

Whereas Konate might return to kind as a everlasting starter for Liverpool, Gakpo might not be suited to a everlasting position on the wing and Liverpool must resolve this concern shortly.