Deschamps responds to Liverpool boss Klopp regarding Konate injury

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Ibrahima Konate was forced to withdraw from France's squad at the last minute after suffering a hamstring strain during a warm-up match in Toulouse, giving Didier Deschamps the chance to respond to Jurgen Klopp's criticism that he played him too much during the last international break.

1 year ago
Being a key player for both club and country is no easy task, and the world's greatest players have one match after another to contend with. Such is the case with Ibrahima Konate, who was forced to withdraw from the France squad at the last minute due to a hamstring injury sustained during a warm-up match with his club, Liverpool.
A few weeks ago, after an international break during which Konate played almost all the minutes of 'Les Bleus' two matches, Jurgen Klopp criticised Deschamps' management of the French centre-back's playing time: "Mr Deschamps, that's how we rest players. Not for three minutes.
Asked about the subject in a press conference, the France coach replied: "It's probably already happened and it will happen at other times because the situation and interests diverge between club and national team coaches. I try to manage them like any other coach. When they have three-match weeks, they can manage them a bit more. We have one training session and two games.
Although the Reds defender has "undergone tests, but it's not serious", Deschamps took the precautionary decision not to call him up after his discomfort at Toulouse in the Europa League. Chelsea's Axel Disasi replaced him.

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