Ibrahima Konate put manners on an Instagram user who heckled the Liverpool defender in response to a post on the social media platform.
The Frenchman was substituted shortly before the hour mark in the Reds’ 2-1 defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, being sacrified as Arne Slot switched to a more attack-minded setup with the Merseysiders trailing by two goals at that point.
The 25-year-old could only watch from the subs’ bench for the remainder of a game in which his side were distinctly second best, something that Alan Shearer pointed out whilst also acknowledging that LFC are still an excellent team despite a hugely disappointing week.
Konate hits back at Instagram heckler
On Monday, Konate took to Instagram to rue the result at Wembley but promise Liverpool fans that he and his teammates will come back stronger after the international break, echoing the sentiments of Caoimhin Kelleher.
The Reds’ number 5 posted: ‘We are all disappointed after yesterday’s result but thank you for staying with us throughout the game. We will be back and we will improve. Now it’s time for international break and then a big push going into the last months of the season.’
One of his followers was rather unimpressed with the Frenchman’s caption and urged him to ‘stop talking [so] much’ and making ‘excuses’. Konate was having none of it, though, as he shot back: ‘Come and play then’.
Konate and Liverpool finally have time to take stock
It’ll take a lot more than a few social media hecklers to faze the Liverpool defender, who worked diligently at the back against Newcastle with five clearances and a 75% duel success rate (Sofascore) but was occasionally culpable of cheaply giving away possession in his team’s defensive third.
Nobody in Slot’s squad will be under any illusions that their collective performance at Wembley was nowhere near good enough, but as Kelleher has pointed out, the international break allows for the players to switch their focus elsewhere for a few days before regrouping at the AXA Training Centre at the end of March.
Since the last round of national team games in November, the Reds have played 30 matches across four different competitions, so it’d be understandable if an element of fatigue has set in, particularly when the stakes were so high for most of those fixtures.
Hopefully Konate and his teammates will put this week’s disappointment firmly behind them with victory in the Merseyside derby in Liverpool’s next match on 2 April.
You can view Konate’s Instagram post (and its replies) below, via ibrahimakonate:
