Ibrahima Konate has responded to criticism leveled at him and his Liverpool team-mates after the Reds’ 4-1 defeat at PSV Eindhoven, their ninth defeat in 12 games.
Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate has vowed his team will bounce back after criticism of their recent performances and form. The defender admits the Reds need to step up their game after a difficult season.
The reigning Premier League champions suffered a 4-1 defeat at PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday, dropping their record to the lowest. It was Liverpool’s ninth loss in their last 12 games and has put pressure on manager Arne Slott following a disastrous 3-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.
Konate, 26, has come under heavy criticism for his performances for Liverpool this season. In the match against PSV, he allowed the opponent to score a third goal due to his own mistake midway through the second half, and was held responsible for the extra goal.
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“We must take this moment to heart. Criticism is part of football and we will always fight back and overcome this storm. In moments like this, the fans are the most important,” Konate said on Instagram on Thursday night.
“To those who are with us through good times and bad, to those who sing for us even in difficult times! Your voice and your support means everything to us.
“We know we need to improve, and we will continue to fight for you. Always.”
In recent matches where Liverpool have been on the back foot, the France international centre-back has been used in place of an attacker.
He was sent off in the 55th minute to be replaced by Hugo Ekitike in the defeat to Sean Dyche’s side, and a similar scenario played out in the Champions League on Wednesday when Federico Chiesa came on with 14 minutes remaining.
With Giovanni Leoni out with a knee problem and concerns over Joe Gomez continuing, Liverpool are desperately short of a replacement.
Ahead of Sunday’s game against West Ham United, Slott revealed Konate had missed two days of training before Wednesday’s setback.
The Dutch manager, who faces increasing pressure for his position, has important choices to make regarding his team selection, with Liverpool at risk of falling further behind in both the race for Champions League qualification and the title race.
Regarding discussions about his future with sporting director Richard Hughes, Slott admitted: “Yes, we’ve had the same conversations since I got here.”
“I’m not sure if I said it last night, but we’re going to keep fighting and trying to get better – that’s what we’re all trying to do – but the conversation is the same as it has been for the past year and a half.
“There’s a lot of pressure when you play and work for a top club and when you start losing more games than this club, the players and the manager are used to, it’s even more pressure. There’s always pressure then.
“But last season there was pressure to win the league, but now we’ve lost so many games that it’s a different kind of pressure. What it’s giving me is that I just have to do the same thing, but I don’t have to play. So my job might be a little easier in this regard.”
“We have to keep fighting. That’s what we did very well last season and what this club has done for many years. That’s what we expect. The minimum that I and we expect is to keep fighting for more than 90 minutes, but that’s not always easy when you get knock after knock.”
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