After tasting defeat in his two most recent outings for Liverpool, the unenviable sequence continued into the international break for Ibrahima Konate, who endured a night to forget for France on Thursday.
The Reds’ number 5 started for Les Bleus in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter-final against Croatia, but he lasted just 45 minutes before he was substituted by Didier Deschamps, having conceded a penalty for a careless handball (the subsequent spot kick was saved).
The official English language X channel for the French national team stated that the 25-year-old was withdrawn after he ‘picked up a knock’, but reports of an injury for the former RB Leipzig colossus may have proven to be inaccurate.
Deschamps explains Konate substitution
Speaking to the media after his team’s 2-0 defeat, Deschamps explained that the decision to substitute Konate was purely voluntary rather than being forced upon him, having been disappointed with the Liverpool defender’s first-half display.
The France head coach stated (via The Mirror): “I know it’s tough, but I saw him struggling, not at his best, so I preferred to substitute him.”
Will Konate be dropped for France’s next match on Sunday?
Konate will be terribly disappointed to have been taken off at half-time after enduring a tough night, with Get French Football News handing him a dire 3/10 in their post-match player ratings and saying that he ‘looked shaky’ alongside William Saliba.
While Liverpool fans won’t have like seeing him struggle in Split, at least Deschamps has allayed the initial fears that the 25-year-old had sustained an injury. With defenders Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley also sidelined, and Ryan Gravenberch returning home from the Netherlands camp earlier this week, another body blow is the last thing that Arne Slot needs at the moment.
Plenty of Reds fans may be secretly (perhaps not so secretly) hoping that the long-serving Les Bleus coach was so underwhelmed by our centre-back’s display that he instead starts Dayot Upamecano in the second leg on Sunday, so that LFC’s number 5 can have an extended rest before the Merseyside derby.
Konate himself will view it differently, of course, but all we want is for him to be available for the remainder of his club’s season and to put in performances which are rather more commanding than the one which saw him subbed off at half-time on Thursday night.
