'In short, what a guy' - Liverpool star 'flawless' as Kylian Mbappe replacement but team-mate left exposed

Ibrahima Konate left the French media in awe after he captained his country to victory over Italy on Sunday night. Handed the armband in the absence of Kylian Mbappe, the Liverpool star helped France bounce back from a disappointing 0-0 draw against Israel to steal top spot.

The centre-back wasn’t the only Reds player in action as Curtis Jones and Caoimhin Kelleher squared off at Wembley. England got the better of the Republic of Ireland, with the Liverpool shot-stopper left helpless as the Boys in Green fell to a heavy defeat.

With Kostas Tsimikas also in action for Greece, the ECHO rounds up how all of the Reds’ internationals got on…

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Ibrahima Konate

Facing off against Italy in Milan, Konate helped France claim an impressive 3-1 victory to clinch top spot in UEFA Nations League Group A2. The win ensured Les Bleus overtook the Azzurri to ensure they will be seeded for next year’s quarter-finals.

An Adrien Rabiot brace and a Guglielmo Vicario own goal cancelled out a finish from Andrea Cambiasso to clinch the victory. But it was at the other end of the field where the French media were most impressed, with captain Konate emerging as one of their star performers.

FootMercato rated the defender as 7/10, writing of his performance: “Captain of the evening, the Liverpool defender gave a flawless performance. Intractable and impactful in the duel, always guided by this little head start in his anticipations, he even rewarded us with a few laser passes to break the Italian lines. Inevitably, this performance blurs the hierarchy in central defence, and especially in his distance duel with Upamecano, who was on the bench tonight.”

Maxifoot also dished out a 7/10 to the Frenchman as they said: “Chosen as captain for this match, the central defender of the French team answered the call. With the Italians not very dangerous, the Liverpool player was attentive to monitor Retegui’s movements in his zone.”

Eurosport also handed Konate a 7/10 match rating, saying of his performance: "What a presence again… His size alone is an invitation to look elsewhere. In 90 minutes, he put Mateo Retegui and then Moise Kean in his pocket. In duels, he is a monster and, at the start of the season, at Liverpool as with France, he is returning to his best level. Good luck to his next direct opponents. In short… What a guy."

With Le Figaro agreeing with such ratings, they said of Konate: "Captain for the evening, he tried to spread calm and serenity with success. A tough match."

And while he was given a 6.5/10 by Dicodu Sport, they were also impressed by the Reds start, writing: “Overall well placed, he didn’t have that much work to do (five defensive interventions). His power allowed him to get the better of the opposing attackers. On the restart, it could be better (another nine balls lost this Sunday evening).”

Konate took to social media after the game to share his delight at both being named captain and claiming an impressive win, writing: “A huge honour [captaincy] a great victory to close 2024!”

Curtis Jones

Jones made his Wembley debut for England as he started alongside Conor Gallagher in midfield, completing 79 minutes as the Three Lions ran out 5-0 winners to clinch top spot in UEFA Nations League Group B2 and promotion back to League A.

While he wasn’t able to add to his debut goal against Greece, the Liverpool midfielder impressed once again, with the Daily’s Mail Craig Hope awarding him a 7/10.

He wrote: “Not the dynamic showing of his debut in Greece but some nice moments and a more disciplined display. A very good introduction this week.”

iNews also gave Jones a 7/10, writing: “Another promising display on his second cap. Adds energy, guile and a silky touch to the midfield and could well have played his way into Thomas Tuchel’s thinking.”

Meanwhile, the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg rated the midfielder at 6/10 against Ireland as he wrote: “Not as influential as against Greece. Still showed flashes of class, raising the tempo with quick bursts.”

Elsewhere, the Telegraph’s Mike McCahill took the opportunity to rate every England player used by interim manager Lee Carsley during his six-match reign.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, who withdrew from the November camp because of injury, was rated at 8/10. He wrote of the defender: “Carsley made it clear he sees him at right-back and gave him licence to be a playmaker in that role, often 'inverted'. But he also filled in at left-back and his set-pieces and passing are important.”

Meanwhile, Jones was handed 7/10 as he said of the midfielder: “Big moment to give him England debut in must-win game in Athens but rewarded with performance and goal, then kept his place for the Ireland win.”

Liverpool team-mate Jarell Quansah was an unused substitute against Ireland.

Caoimhin Kelleher

Ireland were managing to frustrate England at Wembley before Liam Scales was sent off for a second bookable offence when conceding a penalty in the 51st minute.

While Kelleher had been able to deny Finland from the spot earlier in the week, he was unable to repeat his Wembley heroics against Harry Kane.

While the Irish went on to suffer a heavy 5-0 defeat courtesy of further goals from Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, the media were in agreement that the Liverpool shot-stopper was not at fault for any of them.

The Daily’s Mail Craig Hope awarded him Kelleher a 5/10, writing: “Was left exposed with his side down to 10 men and not a lot he could do about any of the five goals.”

The Irish Examiner also gave him a 5/10, acknowledging that he was let down by ‘slack defending’.

They wrote: “First real piece of action was to pick the ball out of his net after Harry Kane’s penalty, for which he went the wrong way. And then it all went pear-shaped - though he could not legislate for the slack defending in front of him.”

Meanwhile, RTE were more generous in their assessment as they rated Kelleher at 6/10, writing: “Was his usual unflappable self in the first half but the Liverpool man wasn't really tested until England's second-half rampage. Made two good saves to prevent a sixth goal late on.”

Kostas Tsimikas

Tsimikas completed the full 90 minutes for Greece as they won 2-0 away at Finland to clinch a UEFA Nations League promotion play-off place.