Ibrahima Konate is nearing full fitness after a rushed return from a knee injury, with Arne Slot revealing the area he is working on to improve his No. 5 further.
Konate came straight back into the side just days after resuming training this month, starting against Man United after five weeks and eight games out.
The Frenchman has started three of the five games since his return, with Slot and his staff carefully managing his workload as he revealed he was playing with the aid of painkillers.
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“I think you’ve seen how we try to manage that. I think we skipped him twice, didn’t we?” Slot told reporters on Friday.
“At least in this game [against Lille] Jarell played and the Accrington game he didn’t play as well.
“That is a bit maybe because he has still some pain in his knee – don’t exaggerate it, but he probably feels a bit.
“It’s safe for him to play, but it’s more the load you’re aware of.
“If a player is out for five or six weeks and then you play him every three days that’s, in our opinion, a certain risk. So we always try to manage that.
“I think he now comes to a moment where he would be able to play three times a week.”
Slot was asked about comparisons between Konate and his centre-back partner Virgil van Dijk, and how good he feels the France international could become.
His answer was particularly interesting as he went into detail about their work together to improve Konate’s work with the ball, insisting that he was already “of the highest standard” defensively.
“I think he’s already very good,” Slot explained.
“It’s a centre-back that, without him even touching the ball, you already feel ‘oo, quite impressive’, because he’s so strong and tall.
“One of the things he could improve, in my opinion at least, is his play with the ball, bringing the ball out from the back.
“I would not say he was poor in that, but he could improve, he could go to another level. I think he works really hard to improve that and I already see this improvement.
“Defensively, he’s of the highest standard.
“He’s fast, he’s strong, he wins duels in the air, over the ground, he can cover for his teammates as well if needed, he can play one-vs-one with a lot of space in his back.
“So defensively there’s not a lot he could or can improve, but bringing the ball out from the back – which is not a single job, it’s also his teammates that he needs for that – was something we’ve worked on a lot and we still keep on working a lot.
“Not only with him, but with the others as well, because with all the ball possession we have we would like to create even more chances than we are doing now.
“That starts from bringing the ball out from the back.”
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