‘No way’ – Rio Ferdinand claims one Liverpool player has been unfairly maligned this season | OneFootball

Rio Ferdinand has suggested that one Liverpool player may have become something of a scapegoat for criticism in the early weeks of this season.

The defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday was a particularly tough afternoon for Ibrahima Konate, who endured an error-strewn first half and was accused by Martin Keown of having a ‘nightmare’ performance.

The Frenchman has been at the centre of speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid next year, with just nine months remaining on his contract at Anfield and no sign of an imminent renewal.

Ferdinand suggests Konate has become a scapegoat for criticism

Speaking on his eponymous Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast, the former England international feels that the 26-year-old is bearing the brunt of excessive criticism due to the uncertainty over his future and hasn’t beeen playing as badly as what some detractors might suggest.

Ferdinand said: “There’s no way that Konate has a bad performance last season and he’s getting the headline treatment.

“It’s only because of the interest from Real Madrid, and there’s going to be disgruntled fans and 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.”

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Konate’s situation has a worrying parallel with Alexander-Arnold

While Konate has had some performances of late which were well below his usual standards, in other matches he’s been one of Liverpool’s best players, so it’s a case of inconsistency rather than continually playing poorly.

His situation is worryingly reminiscent of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s last season, when the right-back was constantly being linked with Real Madrid (for whom he now plays) in the final year of his contract at Anfield and shipped some fierce criticism whenever he had a bad game.

The longer that the uncertainty over the Frenchman’s future continues, the more that there’ll be misguided accusations of his head already being elsewhere if he endures an off-day like the one he had against Palace.

The best way for Konate to silence such naysayers is to turn in a string of consistently high-quality performances, and we know from his four years at Liverpool so far that he’s quite capable of doing so.

With Giovanni Leoni sadly ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a horrific ACL injury, Arne Slot will be even more dependent on the Reds’ number 5 to maintain a high standard of performance throughout the campaign.

You can watch the Liverpool squad prepare for Champions League action via our YouTube channel: