With the season progressing, the French defender seems to be getting more game time and has also been taking the opportunities with both hands.
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Centre-back Ibrahima Konate has slowly started to find his feet at Liverpool after joining the club last summer from RB Leipzig. The 22-year-old centre back was expected to be a future star after showing immense promise at the German club. Due to intense competition for places at Anfield, he has initially found game time hard to come by. With the season progressing, the French defender seems to be getting more game time and has also been taking the opportunities with both hands. Notably, Konate came into the team as one of the many changes made by Jurgen Klopp for Wednesday’s Emirates FA Cup victory over Norwich City.
Ibrahima Konate has stressed the importance of a player needing to be ready whenever the manager calls him up for game time. “You have to be ready [and] this example is perfect,” Konate told Liverpoolfc.com. “Imagine, OK you are angry, you are sad, but two days after you have to play and you are not ready in your head and then you do a bad game. This would be like you saying to the coach: ‘Yes, I know why I don’t play.’”
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He added: “You have to be ready every time and if you play [well], you put some problems in the head of the coach and this is good for the group and for you. If you don’t play it’s normal you are not happy, you are sad. Everybody knows this because every footballer wants to play important games or wants to play normal games, but in the Premier League you don’t have normal games!”
“After, if you don’t play, it’s you against you because OK, you will speak with the coach [and ask] why you don’t play and he will explain to you, but this will not change [anything]. Then you have to fight, you have to work more and if you don’t play you have to think and ask yourself [why]. If you have the answer to your question, you work on this and this and this, and after your time will be coming. With the work, your time will be coming, for sure.”
Last Sunday, Konate came from the bench for extra time in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea. He also converted his spot-kick in the shootout victory. “I think if I start to speak about this, we will not stop!” he smiled, when asked to reflect on the final. “It was an unreal, unbelievable weekend for me. My first title in professional football and with Liverpool, it was amazing and great.
“I was very, very happy and I’m happy today also that we have a lot of important games. We have to, not forget, but you have to put this [the final] to one side and we have to keep going for the rest of the season. I swear, one day after this game I remember I was in my bed before sleeping and I watched some videos from after the game with the players, with the coach and everything and I screamed aloud, you know! Because I was very happy and of course, when you play it’s more unbelievable for me. I don’t have the words to describe this moment but I hope I will have a lot of moments like that with the club.”
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