Konate claims Liverpool WON'T struggle for motivation next season
‘It will be the opposite’: Ibrahima Konate warns Liverpool WON’T struggle for motivation if they fail to qualify for Europe… and insists the Reds CAN challenge for the league title next year
- Liverpool are 12 points off a Champions League spot in the current league table
- It has been a tough year for the Reds, who will not be signing Jude Bellingham
- The Reds take on Leeds on Monday evening as they chase a European finish
Ibrahima Konate has promised there will be no hangover if the unthinkable becomes reality and Liverpool completely miss out on European football.
Jurgen Klopp has secured Champions League qualification in each of his six full seasons as manager but there is little prospect of that happening in this campaign and there are no guarantees around a top seven finish, either.
This has been a week in which changing circumstances have impacted on Liverpool’s potential to rebuild, with the club withdrawing from the race to sign Jude Bellingham with the economics proving beyond them, and many rivals are looking to profit from their struggles.
Konate, though, insists a lack of motivation will not hamper Liverpool next season nor will he consider the idea this campaign is going to meander to a disappointing conclusion. A win at Leeds on Monday, he believes, would give them the incentive to snatch a Europa League place.
The France international also knows it doesn’t pay to linger on disappointment, having put the heartbreak of losing the World Cup final behind in the same way he banished the angst of a Champions League final defeat in his home city of Paris.
Ibrahima Konate has insisted Liverpool will not lack motivation if they fail to qualify for Europe
The Reds are ninth in the Premier League and may miss out on a top seven spot this year
‘As a young player, I have had some tough moments to deal with already,’ said Konate. ‘Losing two massive finals was hard. Hopefully at the end of my career, I’ll be able to look back and say: “look I had some disappointments that year but it gave me the strength and motivation to go on.”
‘I want to win these big trophies later on. That is my aim. That is my objective. It drives me even more.
‘I came into a team that came to within a whisker of winning four trophies. We won two in the end and were only a point away from winning the league and so close to the Champions League.’
Jurgen Klopp has qualified for the Champions League in every full year as Liverpool manager
Konate said that Liverpool can still challenge for the league next season despite their struggles this term
Konate, somehow, missed a glorious chance to win last Sunday’s thrilling clash with Arsenal in the final seconds, when failing to make contact three yards out, but his brilliant tackle on Granit Xhaka lit a fire in the crowd and helped spark Liverpool’s comeback.
He is full of determination to ensure the season finishes on the best possible footing and is noticeably level-headed when confronting the idea that the Champions League will take place next season without Liverpool being involved.
‘Will we struggle for motivation? It will be just the opposite,’ said Konate, who has recovered from a virus and will line up at Elland Road alongside Virgil van Dijk. ‘It will be almost an even bigger motivation – super motivated.
‘Let’s say we are unfortunate not to quite make it into the top four. That still leaves us with two massive things to go for: the league and the Europa League, which we might be taking part in. It is a big incentive to go on and do something big so why not go for that league title in a season like that.’
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