Jürgen Klopp has been speaking to the media after Liverpool recorded a 3-1 win over Benfica, in the first leg of their Champions League Quarter-Final tie.
Ibrahima Konate got the Reds going with a thumping header in the 17th minute, although one journalist noticed him doing something Klopp didn’t approve of.
What’s the story?
Well, the £36m man seemed to be man-marking Everton Soares throughout the game, something Klopp never told him to do.
After being told by a journalist that Konate appeared to be following the Brazilian, the 54-year-old said: “You saw us man-marking? Then we played really bad. I have to watch the game back, if he did it then I have to make sure it doesn’t happen again because we play against the ball, not Everton or the other boys.
“It was not part of the game plan, not at all. I will watch the game back and if we man-marked him I will tell you before the second game. It’s not the plan, no.” (LFC)
Clearly, Klopp is not a fan of man-marking the opposition.
If Konate did slip away from the game plan, then he can surely be forgiven after opening the scoring.
After all, at the age of just 22, the Frenchman is always learning, so Klopp must account for a mistake or two from the youngster.
Liverpool saw best and worst of Ibrahima Konate
With a towering header to open the scoring, and plenty of quality in possession throughout, Liverpool fans got to see the best of Konate at times last night.
As WhoScored shows, the former RB Leipzig colossus had 104 touches of the ball, and also made 94 successful passes – more than any other teammate.
Konate was very composed on the ball, although Liverpool fans also witnessed his shortcomings as he made a mistake for Darwin Nunez to score in the 49th minute.
Hopefully, as time goes on with Virgil van Dijk alongside him, the Liverpool No.5 will cut these errors out of his game.
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