France international and Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konaté (23) has given his opinion on the Reds’ struggles this season in a wide-ranging interview with Eurosport. Last year, Liverpool were close to achieving a historic quadruple having lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid and falling short of Manchester City in a thrilling title race in the Premier League. Now, the Jürgen Klopp-led side had been eliminated early on in the domestic cups. They have crashed out of the Champions League last 16 against Real Madrid and are only sixth in the Premier League standings.
Konaté, after a brilliant first year with the Reds, had to sit out the start of the season through a knee injury that almost prevented him from making the France’s squad for the 2022 World Cup. “This season is more complicated for all of us, for the whole club”, assessed the 23-year-old defender. “No one is better placed than the coach to talk about the reasons why. We had the misfortune of having a lot of injuries, like me at the start of the season.”
Konaté then seemed to imply that Liverpool’s squad was just not large enough to compete after a gruelling season, when the Reds played more than sixty competitive games. “We were maybe short on players. The workload was intense and it became complicated. But the season is not over.” The Paris-born centre-back has stated he would like to stay on Merseyside for the long haul. “When you play for Liverpool, the honest question is ‘Where can I go next ?’ You need to perform to last in such a club. My goal is to be a key player for the short and long term and, of course, win all the trophies at hand.”
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
