Liverpool suffered another defeat to Crystal Palace over the weekend.
The Eagles remain the only team to have beaten Arne Slot’s side this season, as Oliver Glasner appears to have found an effective way to deal with their approach.
Even so, Liverpool are still sitting top of the Premier League table. But their next game, a Champions League clash with Galatasaray, will not offer much of a break from the pressure.
While most of the squad have maintained solid form this season, a few players have not quite matched their levels from last year.
Some changes might be needed in Arne Slot’s line-up. And now Rio Ferdinand has spoken out about one £35 million ace who he feels is becoming an easy target for criticism.
Rio Ferdinand says Liverpool fans are making Ibrahima Konate a scapegoat
One player who has not quite found his rhythm this season is Ibrahima Konate.
The centre-back has struggled to find consistency and, with Giovanni Leoni sidelined through injury and ongoing doubts about Joe Gomez, he has held on to his spot in Arne Slot’s line-up by default rather than form.
While there have been flashes of his usual quality, more often than not, he has fallen short of expectations.
Still, Rio Ferdinand suggested on his podcast that the criticism has more to do with transfer speculation than performance.
“There’s no way that Konate has a bad performance last season and he’s getting the headline treatment,” the Manchester United legend said.
“It’s only because of the interest from Real Madrid, and there’s going to be disgruntled fans and meet people in the media that support Liverpool who are going to now start pointing the finger and blaming him.
“Or whenever there’s a little mistake here, and if there’s blame to be put between two people, he’ll probably get it now because of that situation.”
Konate’s future at Liverpool remains uncertain heading into summer
Ibrahima Konate is set to be a free agent at the end of the season, making him one of the more notable names without a contract heading into the summer.
In recent years, he has played a big role alongside Virgil van Dijk, and while this season has not been his best, he is still capable of top level performances when in form.
The uncertainty around his future has not helped. With links to Real Madrid growing stronger and fans aware he could leave for nothing, it is no surprise frustration is building, similar to what we were seeing with Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It is not exactly fair on Konate, but given the possibility of losing two key players for free to the same club, it is understandable why fans are upset.
For now, though, he remains part of Slot’s plans. What happens next is anyone’s guess.
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