Liverpool star is now a “far bigger issue than Salah”

Liverpool have not been at their best this season, but Arne Slot‘s side won their past two games – against Inter Milan and Brighton & Hove Albion – and they have kept clean sheets in both contests.

The Premier League champions have been caught in the headlights of the new campaign this season, demoted from title-defending contention to a scramble for enough form to keep apace with the top-half-of-the-table pack.

It’s not been good enough, and some of the performances, devoid of coherence and intensity, have been inexcusable, so far removed from the level of last season.

Who better to sum up this decline than Ibrahima Konate, who has been guilty of so many poor, error-riddled performances?

Konate’s slump in form

Liverpool have one of the most talented squads in Europe, and Konate falls into that category, having been hailed as “one of the world’s very best centre-backs” by analyst Raj Chohan during the 2023/24 season.

But there are too many holes in his game. The 26-year-old has been utterly abject this season, the epicentral part of a porous defence.

Konate was a pillar of strength for Slot’s side last season, the perfect counterpoint beside Virgil van Dijk. And when you scrutinise the drop-off since the summer, it’s curious to observe that the defender has actually retained much of his core quality.

The problem, of course, is that Konate has been plagued by a crisis of confidence, committing so many errors on the field.

This has led to a storm of criticism, and much of it has been deserved. However, Konate is a monstrous centre-half and has proven himself as a starring member of a Premier League-winning team.

Can he bounce back and prove he is worth his salt as he once was? Recent results suggest he might be on his way to achieving that, with Liverpool indeed boasting two clean sheets on the trot after that disastrous capitulation at Elland Road.

Moreover, Slot has got behind his defensive lieutenant, saying after Liverpool beat Inter 2-0 at San Siro that he’d “like to highlight” the Les Bleus talent’s display. Then, against Brighton in the Premier League, Konate won ten duels and made clearances en route to a successive shutout.

Is he turning a corner? Perhaps so. And Konate hasn’t been the only straggler in the Merseyside squad this season, with another Redman in danger of replacing the centre-back as the weakest link in this Liverpool team.

Liverpool’s new biggest issue

You might think that we’re segueing here onto Mohamed Salah‘s turbulent few weeks at Liverpool. Since issuing an explosive statement at Leeds earlier in December, the Egyptian attacker made it perfectly clear that his relationship with Slot has broken down after being benched for three successive matches.

He was subsequently left out of Liverpool’s trip to Italy, then benched versus Brighton before being brought on from the bench and making a big impact.

All of a Liverpool persuasion hold onto hope that Salah will remain at the club until – at least – the end of the season, and he may yet play an instrumental role in any possible success the club will strike before the close of play.

However, prominent Liverpool fan voice John Sullivan has said that Cody Gakpo is becoming a “far bigger issue than Salah” on the left flank. Gakpo is injured at the moment, and he has missed the club’s recent wins. Slot has changed his system lately, and this diamond-shaped set-up has offered flashes of success. Gakpo has been absent, injured.

Gakpo, 26, has hardly been immune to criticism this season, having routinely been criticised for one-dimensional displays, lacking nuance and flair out on the left and leaving fans rueful over the summer sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich.

The Dutchman remains a prolific outlet, having scored five goals and provided four assists this term, but there’s no question that his habitual cut-inside approach to the left wing game is becoming tiring, especially given that he is averaging one shot on target every two appearances in the Premier League, as per Sofascore.

Liverpool have lost some of their dynamism in the final third this season, even with such an impressive influx of world-class attacking talent. There is a reason that FSG have a vested interest in Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo despite the pressing need for a centre-half.

Take Milos Kerkez‘s recent resurgence as further evidence of Gakpo’s problematic presence as the only out-and-out left winger in Liverpool’s squad. Kerkez, 21, joined Liverpool from Bournemouth this summer, and he has flattered to deceive, at odds as the left-back in Slot’s sapped system.

But he’s making headway now, going from strength to strength over Liverpool’s past few matches. Against Brighton, he was given a license to roam forward, and the athletic Hungarian won eight duels as a result.

Salah is getting older, but he’s still one of the most potent threats in the world, and it is vital that he is kept on board for the remainder of the campaign. Gakpo, however, is slumping in a different manner, beset, in fact, by a stylistic fault that can only be fixed with a big-money, Diaz-esque signing.

Whereas Konate can return to form as a nailed-on starter for Liverpool, Gakpo might not be cut out for an unmovable role out on the wing, and Liverpool need to fix this problem quickly.

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