Arne Slot has surprised several observers with the way he has started his reign as Liverpool manager with the team now sitting at the top of the Premier League table.
Liverpool have won five of their opening six Premier League games and have emerged as real title contenders alongside Manchester City and Arsenal.
Slot’s start has quelled fears of a dropoff for Liverpool following Jurgen Klopp’s exit and several players have stepped up to the plate for the new manager this season.
Ryan Gravenberch is one of the players who have benefited from Slot’s arrival and has been termed one of the best midfielders in the Premier League this term.
Ibrahima Konata has also excelled under the new manager and has looked at his peak at the heart of the Liverpool defence beside Virgil van Dijk this season.
Slot’s less intense training and playing style has suited the Liverpool defender
Konate joined Liverpool from RB Leipzig in 2021 for a fee of £36m but just 97 appearances in all competitions is a sign of his stop-start career at Anfield.
He started the Champions League final against Real Madrid in his debut season but he failed to kick on since then.
The 2022/23 season was heavily interrupted by niggling muscle injuries and Jarell Quansah’s emergence limited his game time last season under Jurgen Klopp.
However, according to The Athletic, Slot’s style has helped the defender to remain fit consistently at the start of the season.
The new manager’s training sessions and playing style are less intense than Klopp’s and it has suited Konate’s game and his ability to remain fit.
Clear instructions about how he wants defenders to build from the back have also helped the Frenchman to excel at the back.
The centre-back is also benefiting from the change in structure and with Trent Alexander-Arnold playing as a more traditional right-back, Konata is not being asked to to do the job of two defenders.
He is also receiving extra protection in front of him with Ryan Gravenberch sitting at the base of the Liverpool midfield and providing cover to the centre-backs.
The numbers show Konata has improved this season
Konata has been brilliant at the heart of the Liverpool defence and the underlying numbers show how he has improved under Slot.
The Frenchman has won 29 of his 39 (74 per cent) duels and the numbers look even better when we just include aerial duels, winning 22 out of 26 (85 per cent).
He is also distributing the ball better from the back with a 91 per cent passing accuracy and against Bournemouth he registered his first Premier League assist for the lofted pass that led Luis Diaz scoring.
Konate’s goal against AC Milan in the Champions League was his first since scoring against Manchester City in the FA Cup final in 2022.
The Liverpool coaching staff have worked hard to ensure their centre-backs are more of a threat from attacking set-pieces this season.
The Frenchman has been set a target of scoring four goals this season.
