Ibrahima Konate wanted a word with Gary Neville.
After walking off the field at Molineux last Saturday to learn that Sky Sports had requested to speak to him, the Liverpool defender assumed he had won the man of the match award.
Topless, having given his shirt away to a young away fan after the 2-1 win, he returned to the dressing room to grab a jacket before carrying out his interview duties. Konate belatedly realised that he was actually there to hand over the accolade to team-mate Ryan Gravenberch.
“How is this possible? Today I scored and stopped one or two balls, and I didn’t deserve it? What happened?” Konate laughed. “Congratulations my brother. Who decided? Gary Neville?!”
His light-hearted protestations continued shortly after with LFCTV: “I don’t understand why Gary Neville gave the man of the match to Ryan with what I did. You have to talk with him! It’s fine… I’m very happy for Ryan. He’s unbelievable and playing with full confidence.”
Shortly after, in his own Sky Sports interview, head coach Arne Slot bluntly summed up why Konate wasn’t the recipient. “Maybe he forgot that moment when we conceded a goal,” he observed. “To say the least it was avoidable.”
The France international had blotted his copybook by hesitating and allowing Jorgen Strand Larsen to steal in and set up the equaliser for Rayan Ait-Nouri. Konate had been overly optimistic but his claims for the prize weren’t so outlandish.
As well as ending his three-year wait for a first Premier League goal by heading home the opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers, he had been pivotal in Liverpool holding on for a scrappy victory after Mohamed Salah had restored their lead from the penalty spot. He atoned for his earlier error with a crucial last-ditch challenge on Carlos Forbs before coming to the rescue once again to deny Matheus Cunha late on.
More than anything, his comical TV interviews laid bare that both his sense of humour and his self-belief have been restored after a bleak end to last season.
Rewind to April and his form had dipped to such an extent that he could have no complaints about losing his place alongside Virgil van Dijk to rookie Jarell Quansah.
Konate got bullied by Gianluca Scamacca in the chastening 3-0 Europa League quarter-final first-leg defeat by Atalanta at Anfield and it was a similar story against Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the wretched Merseyside derby reverse at Goodison. His confidence having taken a battering, Konate played no part in the final four matches of Jurgen Klopp’s reign.
Van Dijk tried to keep his spirits up by reminding him of the heights he was capable of reaching and he appreciated the captain’s unwavering support. The summer initially brought little respite as he remained on the bench throughout France’s journey to the semi-finals of the Euros where they lost against Spain.
Konate struggled at Everton in April (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
However, a new era at Liverpool meant a fresh start and when he met Slot for the first time in Philadelphia midway through the pre-season tour of America in July, the Dutchman left him in no doubt about how highly he rated him.
Konate’s name had featured strongly in discussions internally over which players had endured a dip and had big potential to kick on with the right guidance from Slot and his staff.
It was no surprise that the 25-year-old did not start on the opening weekend at newly-promoted Ipswich Town given his short pre-season and Quansah’s form in the friendlies, but after 45 minutes at Portman Road, Slot decided that Liverpool needed an injection of physicality. He wasn’t happy with how many duels his team had been losing.
Quansah made way and Konate has started every game since apart from the Carabao Cup win over West Ham United, when he was given the night off.
He has won 29 of his 39 duels (74 per cent) in the Premier League and that figure is even more impressive when you just include aerial duels, winning 22 out of 26 (85 per cent).
Konate has also made a significant impact going forward. He hadn’t scored since the FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City at Wembley in April 2022 before breaking that drought when he headed home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick in last month’s Champions League victory over AC Milan in San Siro.
His distribution has also shown signs of improvement and so far this season he has completed 370 out of 408 passes (91 per cent). In the home win over Bournemouth, he registered his first Premier League assist with a pin-point lofted pass to release Luis Diaz. Konate also had a big hand in Liverpool’s third goal — turning defence into attack with another long pass towards Darwin Nunez, who then combined expertly with Mohamed Salah.
Coach Aaron Briggs has worked closely with the club’s analysts to try to maximise the aerial threat of Slot’s centre-backs and it’s paying off. Konate set himself a target of four goals for the season after scoring in San Siro and he’s already halfway there after nodding in Diogo Jota’s cross at Molineux.
Ibrahima Konate heads home against Wolves (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
“Ibou is a fantastic player who still can be better,” Van Dijk told reporters after the Wolves game. “As you saw, he is important with the goal. He is defensively solid, a bit unlucky with the goal we conceded, but obviously the qualities he has are outstanding in my opinion.
“He is learning, growing, getting better and looking after himself much better in order to be ready every three days as that’s what’s asked. And also we have a young player behind him in Jarell, who is also doing well. We have to keep pushing each other and he is doing a good job.”
It is a sign of just how stop-start Konate’s Liverpool career has been since he arrived from RB Leipzig for £36million ($47.7m) in 2021 that he has only made 97 appearances (84 starts) for the club in all competitions.
After an excellent second half to his debut season at Anfield resulted in him starting ahead of Joel Matip in the 2022 Champions League final against Real Madrid in his home city of Paris, he didn’t kick on. His 2022-23 campaign was heavily interrupted by injuries and there were further muscle issues last season before Quansah’s emergence limited his game time.
So far Slot’s less intense training regime and playing style has suited Konate. He has been able to stay fit and build up the kind of momentum that had previously eluded him. Through individual meetings and the use of video analysis, the head coach has spelt out exactly how he wants his defenders to build from the back. When teams press high, Konate has been encouraged to look for the long ball to exploit space in behind like he did against Bournemouth.
There is also a belief internally that Konate is benefiting from the changes to the structure of the team. For a start he has got less ground to cover now that Alexander-Arnold is playing as more of an orthodox right-back. With the vice-captain more selective about when he drifts into central areas when Liverpool are in possession, Konate isn’t constantly trying to cover two positions.
Konate has looked more comfortable in defence this season (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
In front of Konate, there is the extra protection provided by Gravenberch, who is so comfortable receiving the ball and keeping it in tight areas. Alongside him, there’s Van Dijk, who has been back to his commanding best. Liverpool were ragged at times against Wolves but in general they have been playing with more control and have been much less susceptible to counter-attacks with defenders less exposed.
The collective strength around him has certainly helped but Konate also deserves great credit for how he has turned things around. Liverpool currently have bigger priorities in terms of contracts, but Konate’s will also need to be addressed in the near future as his current deal only runs until 2026.
The France international spent his day off on Sunday with family back home in Paris. He grew up on a tough estate in the city’s 11th arrondissement, the second youngest of eight children. A steely work ethic and the need to stay humble was ingrained in him by his parents Hamadi and Yara, who had arrived in France as immigrants from Mali.
Those qualities stood him in good stead during a tough spell. A big personality in the Liverpool dressing room has got his mojo back.
(Top photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
