‘Top class’: Pep Lijnders says Klopp has an absolute ‘beast’ at Liverpool now

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Liverpool coach Pepijn Lijnders has heaped praise on Ibrahima Konate following his performance against Manchester United last weekend.

The Frenchman was absolutely incredible at Old Trafford on Sunday. He was assured on the ball and solid without it. He almost nullified Manchester United’s threat, and Liverpool fans are in love with him.

Starting Konate at Old Trafford was, in many people’s eyes, a gamble. The 22-year-old is new to the Premier League and hadn’t ever experienced a game of that magnitude before. Things could’ve easily gone wrong for him, but he dealt with everything brilliantly.

Lijnders was asked about Konate and he labelled the young central defender as a ‘beast’.

Lijnders: Konate is a beast

He said, as per Liverpool’s official website: “First of all, big compliment to Ibou. Also a big compliment to our last line, I think, but especially for Ibou. Coming in against United is never easy, it shows over the last years the results there and how we performed there.

“So, big compliment to him, because if you talk about Man United you talk about speed. If you talk about Man United, you speak about lethalness as well. It’s not easy to control the speed of Rashford, of Greenwood, the speed and mind of Bruno, and the lethalness of Cristiano in the box.

“That was only possible by us staying away from the goal for long, long times, as high as possible. How he controlled together with Robbo, Trent and Virg – that’s why I want to say a big compliment to our last line – how he controlled these movements and this speed was from an absolute top level. I said it the last time, Ibou is a beast.

“If you play with a high line, if you play with a lot of space at your back, if you want to keep the opposition far away from your own goal, you need speed in your last line. And we have four players with real speed. I say the four, I mean Joel (Matip), Ibou (Konate), Virg (van Dijk) and Joey (Gomez).”

Konate was brilliant against Manchester United

Liverpool were desperate to sign a new central defender in the summer after all their injury woes last season. Konate was quickly identified as their top target, and a deal was wrapped up for £36 million. (Sky Sports)

The 22-year-old’s biggest test so far was against Manchester United and he made it look easy. He contained the likes of Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo without any trouble at all, and he deserves a ton of praise for that.

In his 90 minutes on the pitch at Old Trafford, Konate made eight clearances, one tackle and won three of his four attempted duels. He had 60 touches of the ball, maintained a stunning passing accuracy of 92 per cent having lost the ball just five times all game. (SofaScore)

Konate is proving to be a fantastic signing for Liverpool. He looks like the ideal partner for van Dijk at the back and if the pair can build a good relationship in the coming weeks and months, they will be a nightmare for opposition attackers – much more than they already are.