The international break is fraught with danger for every Premier League manager. And as Arne Slot waved his Liverpool players off on their respective national team duties, the head coach will first and foremost have been keeping his fingers crossed they all return in the same physical condition.
But there will be another concern high on the list of Slot. And Ibrahima Konate could be in danger of being affected.
The Liverpool defender went into the international break having wrested his starting role back in the first team after a difficult year in which fitness worries and a lack of minutes had impacted his form and seen him fall down the pecking order behind Jarell Quansah.
It contributed to him failing to feature for a single minute for France at the recent European Championships, where Didier Deschamps’ side fell at the penultimate hurdle against eventual winners Spain.
However, after grasping the opportunity with Liverpool having replaced Quansah at half-time during the opening Premier League weekend win at Ipswich Town, Konate was given a chance to restore his international credentials with a starting role against Italy in the UEFA Nations League in Paris on Friday night.
It didn’t quite go to plan. Despite going ahead after only 13 seconds, France were eventually humbled 3-1 in their first defeat to Italy in the capital in 70 years.
And the French media were less than complimentary about Konate’s performance, with the finger pointed at the Reds player for at least two of the Italy goals.
