France boss Didier Deschamps has revealed why he chose to start Arsenal ace William Saliba over Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté against Austria. Les Blues won the fixture 1-0 at the Düsseldorf Arena thanks to an own-goal from Maximillian Wöber in the second half.
Saliba partnered Bayern Munich star Dayot Upamecano in the centre of defence for this clash, which came as a surprise to supporters across the world. French outlet Le Parisien had previously reported that Deschamps had decided to start Konaté alongside Upamecano ahead of the tournament, however, made a late change to bring the Arsenal defender into the starting line-up.
Konaté, 25, has endured a tough season at Anfield with thigh and muscle problems sidelining him throughout the campaign. He also faced tough competition from the likes of Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah for a starting role, with both factors limiting him to just 17 starts in the Premier League.
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Prior to his return to the starting line-up against Luxembourg on June 5, Konaté hadn’t featured for club or country since April 24 after being dropped by Jürgen Klopp following the 2-0 defeat to Merseyside rivals Everton. “There was nothing at stake in Liverpool’s last few games,” he said to Le Monde when asked about the lack of game-time.
“If that had been the case, I would have been in a different mood and I would have discussed it with the coach [Jürgen Klopp].”
The player featured for 29 minutes in the final preparation game for France against Canada and was seemingly ready for a start against Austria on Sunday evening – which never arrived. Deschamps instead opted for Saliba for the opening game and has now explained his decision.
“If I decided to play William Saliba, it is because I thought he was more ready than Konaté for such a match,” he told Get French Football News. “But I don’t want to lose anyone either, we will need everyone.
“They (Saliba and Upamecano) have 120 minutes together for the France national team, it’s not a lot, but they have this ability to be very solid in one-on-one [situations], even if there were some clearances that they could improve on, they exuded a lot of strength and calmness. We needed that against such an opponent.”
Liverpool.com says: Despite missing parts of the season, Konaté has been fully fit since late March and is without a doubt ready to be called upon. He will eventually get his opportunity for the national team in Euro 2024, although it might be further down the line following the solid performance from Saliba.