'In my opinion': Arne Slot admits £36m Liverpool player could be a lot better with the ball at his feet
Yesterday at 01:15 PM
Liverpool are currently flying high in both the Premier League and the Champions League this season.
It has been a real team effort, with virtually every player pulling their weight and covering for those who have missed out due to injury or suspension.
Ibrahima Konate is one of the many Liverpool players who has gone above and beyond for Arne Slot’s side this season.
Konate has played a big part in helping keep the Reds’ defence watertight, the team conceding just 22 goals in 27 Premier League and Champions League games.
Indeed, Slot spoke highly of Konate and Virgil van Dijk after their recent 2-0 win over Brentford.
Slot, speaking ahead of Liverpool’s league meeting with Ipswich Town, sung the Frenchman’s praises but also shared what he could yet improve on.
Arne Slot says Ibrahima Konate could improve on bringing the ball out from the back
Slot, speaking to the Liverpool media team, said Konate is pretty much flawless on the defensive front, but he could do with improving his passing out from the back.
“I think he’s already very good,” said Slot. “It’s a centre-back that without him even touching the ball you already feel, ‘Quite impressive’ because he’s so strong and tall.
“I think one of the things he could improve, in my opinion at least, is his play with the ball, bringing the ball out from the back.
“I would not say he was poor in that but he could improve [and] he could go to another level. I think he works really hard to improve that and I already see this improvement.”
Slot continued: “Defensively, he’s of the highest standard.
“I think he’s fast, he’s strong, he wins duels through the air, over the ground and [he] can cover for his teammates as well if he’s needed, he can play one-v-one with a lot of space in his back. So, defensively there’s not a lot he could or can improve.
“But bringing the ball out from the back – which is not his single job, it’s also his teammates he needs for that – was something we have worked on a lot and keep on working a lot.
“Not only with him but with the others as well because from all the ball possession we have, we would like to create even more chances than we are doing now and that starts from bringing the ball out from the back.”
Slot discusses Konate’s fitness after rushed injury comeback
Konate sat out the midweek Champions League win over Lille after revealing on Monday that he has played with the aid of painkillers of late.
The defender was sidelined for more than a month after sustaining a knee injury during Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in November.
Konate returned to the starting line-up in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United earlier this month, but he admitted he rushed his comeback.
Slot said, as per the Liverpool website: “I think you’ve seen how we’ve tried to manage that. I think we skipped him twice, at least in this game [against Lille] Jarell Quansah played.
“And the Accrington Stanley game he didn’t play as well. That is a bit maybe because he still has some pain in his knee – don’t exaggerate it – but he probably feels [it] a bit.
“It’s safe for him to play. It’s more the load you’re aware of if a player is out for five or six weeks and then playing him every three days. That’s, in our opinion, a certain risk.
“We always try to manage that, and I think he now comes to a moment where he would be able to play three times a week.”
