Ibrahima Konate is reportedly set to lose his place in the French starting XI to Manchester United’s Raphael Varane. This comes as quite a shocking piece of news for many given that Konate was one of the best players on the pitch for France in the win during their opening World Cup match against Australia. This news broke in a report by L’equipe.
Konate has very quickly established himself as one of the top defending talents in world football after becoming an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side and Deschamps After all the 32 nations have played at least their first game in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, no defender has won more duels (7) than Ibrahima Konaté with a 100% success rate.
In the game against Australia, his performance and number speak for themself. Ibrahima Konaté stats in the win against Australia are as follows:
Passing Accuracy – 88%
Shots on Target – 1
Final Third Passes – 14
Accurate Long Balls – 5
Dispossessed – 0
Tackles Won – 100%
Clearances – 4
Interceptions – 1
Recoveries – 6
This decision by France’s coach, Didier Deschamps seems to be taken for the purpose of rotation to ensure that they have no more injuries. The current French side is without Karim Benzema, Ngolo Kante, Lucas Hernandez, and Paul Pogba who are all out due to injury. You can’t completely fault Deschamps to take this decision.
Raphael Varane does bring a lot of experience at the back, but he has not been at his fit best for a while now and is a shadow of his former self during his Real Madrid days. However, we could end up seeing this as a rotational strategy with Konate making his way back to the starting lineup in the subsequent games or off the bench in this one.
Who do you think will take the three points in the game between France and Denmark? Do let us know in the comments section below.