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Jamie Carragher was critical of a Liverpool star after seeing how he fared in Liverpool's 3-2 defeat to Brighton on Monday night.
Liverpool suffered a second defeat since wrapping up the Premier League title in April, despite leading 2-1 at half-time courtesy of goals from Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Substitutes Kauru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood found the net in the second half, meaning Liverpool are winless since they secured their 20th league title with a 5-1 thrashing of Spurs.
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Arne Slot did ring the changes in his side, handing starts to Elliott, Federico Chiesa and Jarell Quansah at the AMEX Stadium.
Captain Virgil van Dijk was handed a rare rest at the heart of the Liverpool backline but in his absence, Jamie Carragher felt as though Ibrahima Konate did not step up to the mark.
The Frenchman is Van Dijk's regular partner and has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid in the future.
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Jamie Carragher was disappointed with Liverpool star's showing
Former Liverpool defender Carragher wanted to see how he would fare without Van Dijk and was not best impressed with his outing - particularly his role in Brighton's second goal.
"I was a bit disappointed with Konate tonight," Carragher said on Sky Sports.
"Even for the second goal, Konate was flying out of position, the ball went over his head.
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“I've always had this feeling that all the centre-backs that have played alongside Virgil van Dijk, I've always wanted to see them on their own. I haven't because I want van Dijk to play every week but I've almost thought playing alongside one of the best centre-backs we have ever seen in the Premier League, I'd love to see them on their own and I want a little bit more from them.
"We always make mistakes but that leadership. I used to say it about Joe Gomez, I said it about Matip and now Konate. It'd be really interesting to see without Virgil van Dijk for 10-15 games to be the leader of the back four, organise people around them and make people around them do better and that was lacking in the second half.”
The former RB Leipzig defender joined Liverpool for a fee of £36 million in 2021 and has made 131 appearances, including 40 this season.
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Though Real have secured their top centre-back target this summer by bringing in Dean Huijsen for a fee of £50 million from Bournemouth, the links to Konate persist and Liverpool will desperate to avoid a repeat scenario as what has happened with Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The England international is leaving on a free after 26 years in the club's system and is set to sign a lucrative deal with Los Blancos.
Topics: Jamie Carragher, Liverpool, Virgil Van Dijk
Josh Lawless