Michael Owen has criticised Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate for his performance against Crystal Palace.
Entering the season as defending champions, Arne Slot’s Liverpool won all five of their opening Premier League games, despite not really appearing at their best in any of those clashes.
Their sixth game of the season saw Liverpool travel to Selhurst Park, facing a Crystal Palace side who had been unbeaten in their previous 17 games, a run that included a season-opening Community Shield encounter, where Palace beat the Reds on penalties.
It was Palace that continued their unbeaten streak, condemning Liverpool to their first defeat of the season in all competitions. The Reds looked sluggish against Palace, though it appeared that Federico Chiesa had salvaged yet another late result for his side when he scored just minutes before the game entered stoppage time.
Eddie Nketiah, however, restored Palace’s lead in the 97th minute, ensuring that the Eagles picked up a win that their performance deserved, becoming the only unbeaten Premier League side remaining in the process.
A number of Liverpool players seemed to struggle against Palace, who have become one of the most well-drilled sides in the entire division under the guidance of FA Cup-winning manager Oliver Glasner.
In the aftermath of the game, former Liverpool striker Michael Owen, as per SPORTbible, criticised one particular defender in Slot’s team.
‘He Didn’t Know What He Was Doing’
In the aftermath of the game, Owen was particularly harsh on Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate, who faced major issues against a Palace attack consisting of Jean Philippe-Mateta, Ismaila Sarr, who broke the deadlock, and Yeremy Pino.
Ex-Liverpool man Owen, who has worked as a pundit for some time now since retiring as a player, in speaking about Konate, said:
“I don’t know whether it was tiredness, but they rested a fair few players in midweek in the Carabao Cup. They weren’t their usual selves. We are early in the season, I’d be hesitant to blame it on [tiredness].
“I mean, Konate in the first half didn’t know what he was doing. I can’t say that it was because of rustiness or tiredness. We’ve seen one or two performances like that from him this season that have been quite similar.”
Centre-back is a position of worry for Liverpool, particularly in the aftermath of news that Giovanni Leoni, a summer signing from Parma, will be out for up to a year after suffering a serious injury on his debut for the club.
Liverpool certainly have the attacking quality to retain their title, though given the lack of defensive depth they have until at least January, Konate must improve swiftly for the sake of his team.