{"id":293931,"date":"2023-10-11T17:51:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T17:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=293931"},"modified":"2023-10-11T17:51:09","modified_gmt":"2023-10-11T17:51:09","slug":"konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/","title":{"rendered":"Konate vows to become &apos;BETTER&apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Ibrahima Konate vows to become &#8216;BETTER&#8217; than Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk and insists he is &#8216;learning a lot&#8217; from him&#8230; as he prepares to face off against the Dutchman with France<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has talked up the ability of Virgil van Dijk\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He said he was learning a lot from the Dutchman but vowed to surpass him<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has laid out his ambitions to become better than his team-mate Virgil van Dijk.<\/p>\n<p>The centre-back is currently away with the France national team and could face off against the Dutchman when his side play the Netherlands in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Konate joined Liverpool from RB Leipzig in 2021 and has since played 61 times for the Reds, though he has started just twice in this campaign &#8211; with Van Dijk and Joel Matip looking like Jurgen Klopp&#8217;s starting centre-backs.<\/p>\n<p>However, the 24-year-old insists he is &#8216;learning a lot&#8217; from the Dutch defender and that his long-term goal is to surpass him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Very few defenders have managed to do what Van Dijk has done,&#8217; he said ahead of the game, as per RMC Sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/16\/76433453-12619503-image-a-27_1697037316689.jpg\" height=\"432\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate (R) has vowed to become better than Virgil van Dijk (L)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/16\/76434281-12619503-image-a-32_1697038241233.jpg\" height=\"477\" width=\"306\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/11\/16\/76434271-12619503-image-m-31_1697038234221.jpg\" height=\"477\" width=\"306\"><\/p>\n<p>Konate says he is learning from the Dutchman as he hailed his achievements at Anfield<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He is a great defender, from whom I am learning a lot. Now, my objective, and he knows it, is to become better than him.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He added that former Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos was originally his &#8216;No 1 model&#8217; who he &#8216;followed a lot&#8217; as he now bids to carve out his own path.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This season Konate has played 220 minutes for Liverpool, with two starts in the league coming in a 3-1 win against Leicester and in a 3-1 win against Bournemouth.<\/p>\n<p>His other three appearances in the top flight this season have come from the bench &#8211; though he has enjoyed two starts in the Europa League and one in the League Cup &#8211; showing that Klopp is keen to give him game time in cup competitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Van Dijk, meanwhile, has started six times in the Premier League and once in the Europa League.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Dutch star, who has won nearly every trophy available to him at Anfield &#8211; including the title the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the Champions League &#8211;\u00a0 was suspended for two games after being sent off against Newcastle.<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12619503\/Ibrahima-Konate-vows-BETTER-Liverpool-team-mate-Virgil-van-Dijk-insists-learning-lot-prepares-face-against-Dutchman-France.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ibrahima Konate vows to become &#8216;BETTER&#8217; than Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk and insists he is &#8216;learning a lot&#8217; from him&#8230; as he prepares to face off against the Dutchman with France Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has talked up the ability of Virgil van Dijk\u00a0 He said he was learning a lot from the Dutchman&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Konate vows to become &amp;apos;BETTER&amp;apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool - Tell My Sport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Konate vows to become &amp;apos;BETTER&amp;apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool - Tell My Sport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ibrahima Konate vows to become &#8216;BETTER&#8217; than Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk and insists he is &#8216;learning a lot&#8217; from him&#8230; as he prepares to face off against the Dutchman with France Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has talked up the ability of Virgil van Dijk\u00a0 He said he was learning a lot from the Dutchman&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tell My Sport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-11T17:51:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Konate-vows-to-become-aposBETTERapos-than-Van-Dijk-at-Liverpool.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/\",\"name\":\"Konate vows to become &apos;BETTER&apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool - Tell My Sport\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-11T17:51:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-11T17:51:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/category\/soccer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Konate vows to become &apos;BETTER&apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/\",\"name\":\"Tell My Sport\",\"description\":\"tellmysport.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Konate vows to become &apos;BETTER&apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool - Tell My Sport","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Konate vows to become &apos;BETTER&apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool - Tell My Sport","og_description":"Ibrahima Konate vows to become &#8216;BETTER&#8217; than Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk and insists he is &#8216;learning a lot&#8217; from him&#8230; as he prepares to face off against the Dutchman with France Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has talked up the ability of Virgil van Dijk\u00a0 He said he was learning a lot from the Dutchman&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/","og_site_name":"Tell My Sport","article_published_time":"2023-10-11T17:51:09+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Konate-vows-to-become-aposBETTERapos-than-Van-Dijk-at-Liverpool.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/","url":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/","name":"Konate vows to become &apos;BETTER&apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool - Tell My Sport","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-10-11T17:51:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-11T17:51:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/soccer\/konate-vows-to-become-better-than-van-dijk-at-liverpool\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer","item":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/category\/soccer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Konate vows to become &apos;BETTER&apos; than Van Dijk at Liverpool"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/","name":"Tell My Sport","description":"tellmysport.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}