Not just Trent: Another Liverpool player has been forced to withdraw from his national squad
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has been forced to withdraw from the France squad for their upcoming internationals due to injury.
The 24-year-old missed the recent wins over Newcastle and Aston Villa due to a hamstring problem (The Athletic) and, despite being named in Didier Deschamps’ initial selection for Les Bleus’ matches against Republic of Ireland and Germany in the coming days, he’s now pulled out of action for his country.
The French federation confirmed on their official website that, following consultation with team doctor Franck Le Gall, the coach took the decision to stand down the Reds centre-back and replace him with Jean-Clair Todibo.
Konate isn’t the only Liverpool defender to be withdrawn from international duty through injury, with England confirming on Monday evening that Trent Alexander-Arnold won’t partake in their upcoming games either.
As with the English right-back, Jurgen Klopp and Reds fans might be relieved in one sense that Konate has pulled out of the France squad for the September internationals.
The 24-year-old has unfortunately been beset by several injury concerns since the start of last season (Transfermarkt), and with Virgil van Dijk still facing the prospect of an increased suspension (talkSPORT), Liverpool’s centre-back options aren’t plentiful right now.
Thankfully, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip have performed commendably as a partnership over the past couple of games, with youngster Jarell Quansah also offering a dependable backup, although the former may be needed at right-back if Trent is to miss LFC’s next few matches.
That Konate was initially named in the France squad suggests that Deschamps had some hope of him being fit for the fixtures against Ireland and Germany, which in turn would imply that the defender could be recovered in time to face Wolves on 16 September.
We can only wait and see if he’s fit enough to feature for the trip to Molineux in 12 days’ time, but at least he won’t run the risk of aggravating his hamstring problem on international duty, which’ll come as a relief to Klopp and Liverpool supporters.
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Neil Jones claims Szobozslai’s impact at Liverpool is reminiscent of 2000s Anfield favourite
Neil Jones has compared the initial impact made by Dominik Szoboszlai at Liverpool to an Anfield favourite from the 2000s.
The Hungarian has taken no time at all to settle in on Merseyside since his £60m move from RB Leipzig in July (BBC Sport), drawing praise from many observers and scoring his first goal for the Reds in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
Speaking exclusively to Empire of the Kop’s Substack, the journalist drew comparisons between the 22-year-old’s first few games for LFC and a player harking back to Rafael Benitez’s time in charge of the club.
Jones said of Szoboszlai: “To be honest, his kind of impact reminds me a little bit of (and it’s a different type of player and era, of course) Xabi Alonso when he first came to Liverpool in 2004.
“In his first couple of games, it just felt like he took the team up a level; he’d pass the ball a bit sharper, snap into tackles a bit stronger… it didn’t take long for people to realise ‘oh my god, we’ve got a class player!’
“I think it’s very similar with Szoboszlai. You can see he’s really in tune with what Anfield likes and what Jurgen Klopp expects of him. Keep him fit, keep him firing.
“There’ll be bumps to come in the road ahead I’m sure, there’ll be some tough away games and things like that, but you’re looking at Szoboszlai at 22 years of age and the sort of money they’ve paid – you have to say Liverpool have got in a real good one there
For Szoboszlai to already be eliciting comparisons to Alonso is an extremely good portent of things to come from the Hungary playmaker.
During his five years at Liverpool under Benitez, the Spanish midfielder (now Bayer Leverkusen coach) mesmerised the Kop with his sumptuous vision and range of passing, while also offering the tenacity to get stuck into tackles and win duels regularly (lfchistory.net).
A member of the 2005 Champions League-winning side, the now 41-year-old netted 18 times in 210 appearances for the Reds (Transfermarkt), with two of his goals coming from inside his own half of the pitch.
Alonso has hands down been one of the best midfielders LFC have had in the Premier League era, and if Szoboszlai goes on to sprinkle as much stardust as Anfield as the Spaniard did in his prime, he’ll depart the club as something of a legend.
Like Jones says, it’s still very early days in the Hungarian’s Liverpool career and there will surely be testing moments along the way, but everything up to this point suggests that he’ll meet those challenges head-on and overcome them to become an integral figure in Klopp’s first XI.
