After Crystal Palace shocked Liverpool to put the side of Arne Slot their first defeat of the season, Chris Sutton targeted a star who made “Error after error”.
Slot: Liverpool “deserved” the defeat of the Crystal Palace
After being forced to win late in six of their seven games before going to Selhurst Park, it is just to say that the position of Liverpool as an undefeated toppers did not paint the whole table. The Reds were vulnerable all season, they just had the talent and the attacker mentality to avoid matching the results with disappointing displays.
Unlike Arsenal, Bournemouth and Atletico Madrid, Crystal Palace was not in a mood to leave the side of Slot. Even after Federico Chiesa thought it had recovered once again a point of the bench, it was the Eagles who had the last word – marking a last winner with the kind authorization of Eddie Nketiah.
“The palace has some threats. The sets are one of them, but counterattacks and bullets behind are the number two and three, and all these situations, they have created a lot of chance.
“What I said, we were able to create a lot against a team from the palace that almost never concedes a chance, but when you look at the first half, they completely deserved to win. In the second period, I think it was a much better performance on our part. If a team deserved to win today, I think it was the palace.” (Slot on the defeat of the palace)
It was a frustrating day for almost all Liverpool players. Mohamed Salah again failed his best form and endured another silent game. Florian Wirtz continued to fight while the questions were starting to arrive at his impact after a summer move with big money, and Milos Kerkez did not impress either.
Alas, none of these three felt the anger of Sutton, who targeted another Liverpool star who had an afternoon to forget at the Selhurst Park.
Sutton says Konate is “miles”
By targeting the Frenchman, the former Chelsea and the Celtic striker Sutton said that Ibrahima Konate had been “miles” and made “merry after error” in Liverpool this season.
The Pundit de la BBC told Monday Night Club: “They simply exploited Liverpool defensively. I think the stuff on Konate, which Rory said, he makes a mistake after error.
“And that’s, you know, that’s where he was consistent at the start of this season. You know, I think he was a brilliant player for Liverpool, but this season he was miles away. And he had a particularly poor game.”
It is difficult to chat with this verdict either. Konate, out of £ 70,000 per week, was particularly poor against Crystal Palace, having only one tackle and winning only two of his five duels on the ground. Jean-Philippe Mateta, meanwhile, fully benefited from Eagles in a dominant way.
With less than 12 months remaining on his current agreement, the defender, who was an ordinary under the slot machine, starting each match in 25/26, is likely to face questions similar to those sent to Trent Alexander-Arnold last season if his current form persists.
And since Giovanni Leoni’s injury left Liverpool with only three central defenders, it is fair to say that Slot could do without the current Konate difficulties.
