---
title: "“Quick, strong, and dominant”: James Pearce gives rave review of Ibrahima Konaté’s Premier League debut"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/news/ibrahima-konate-impressive-debut/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Liam Sterling"
section: "Liverpool News"
published: "2021-09-20T19:30:00Z"
modified: "2021-09-20T19:30:00Z"
---

# “Quick, strong, and dominant”: James Pearce gives rave review of Ibrahima Konaté’s Premier League debut

This weekend saw Liverpool continue their fantastic start to the Premier League season.

The Reds ran out [3-0 winners](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12411109/ton-up-for-mane-as-liverpool-beat-palace-to-go-top) against Crystal Palace, with Sadio Mané netting his 100th goal for Liverpool.

Despite the Senegalese winger taking the limelight, there was another player who made quite the impression.

Saturday saw French centre-back Ibrahima Konaté make his Premier League debut for the club.

Much to everyone’s expectation, the defender played well and enjoyed a great debut with a win and clean sheet.

Following the game, [The Athletic’s James Pearce](https://twitter.com/JamesPearceLFC/status/1439849808202813440) gave his verdict on the Frenchman’s star performance.

In a [piece for the publication](https://theathletic.com/2829304/2021/09/19/incredible-ibrahima-konate-was-worth-the-wait/?source=emp_shared_article), Pearce described Konaté as ‘quick, strong, and dominant aerially”…

> This was an impressive start to Ibrahima Konate’s [#LFC](https://twitter.com/hashtag/LFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) career. Quick, strong and dominant aerially. \
> An area of such vulnerability last season is now one of real strength and depth for Klopp. The structure of the team has been restored. [https://t.co/7vzFaRzStX](https://t.co/7vzFaRzStX)
>
> — James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) [September 20, 2021](https://twitter.com/JamesPearceLFC/status/1439849808202813440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

It is fair to say that Konaté was very impressive during his debut, with him a evidently physical presence.

At 6ft4 and 95kg, the 22-year-old looked like an absolute moster on the pitch and made this known.

More often than not you would see Konaté in a physical battle with the likes of Christian Benteke and Odsonne Eduoard.

His performance and impact during the game was clearly felt, with the Reds shutting up shop early on.

A clean sheet and a victory was enough to make it a fine debut for Konaté and carry on the clubs great form.

Liverpool currently sit [joint top of the Premier League](https://www.premierleague.com/tables) table alongside Chelsea.

Hopefully we will see more fine performances from Konaté in the near future, with the Reds taking on Norwich tomorrow in the EFL Cup.