Ibrahima Konaté was presented with an impromptu task against Nottingham Forest six months ago. Liverpool had just picked up an impressive 6-1 victory over Leeds United using a new-look attacking shape, and the tactical shift grabbed the attention of Steve Cooper.
The Forest boss was keen to avoid the same fate as Leeds, which is why he turned up at Anfield having concocted a specific approach that was tailored to nullify the Reds. Forest adopted a makeshift diamond shape in the middle of the park to face Liverpool in April, and that caused problems for Jürgen Klopp. The Reds had recently moved towards a fresh idea which consisted of right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold becoming a situational midfielder near the center circle. Whenever the Scouse defender made his inside movements, he would inadvertently create a box midfield for Liverpool to use as a means of establishing dominance on the pitch.
