Pre-season is well underway now with United gradually upping their intensity in training and in the pre-season games. One player that is being closely watched by Paul Heckingbottom in training sessions, and in games, is Ismaila Coulibaly.
The Malian international was brought back to the club earlier than expected due to Beerschot being relegated from the Belgian Pro League. This has given Coulibaly the opportunity to capture the imaginations of United’s coaching staff, as we build-up to the beginning of the league campaign.
Paul Heckingbottom has told Yorkshire Live that the 21 year-old has found the intensity of the training sessions “interesting”.
“He’s trained with us for two weeks,” he told Yorkshire Live. “He’s found it interesting talking to him, the intensity, the way the lads are settling in. We are going to work with him and have a really good look at him and keep pushing him.
“He’s still so young, but people have known about him for so long. He’s got a lot of years in front of him and we want to see how he responds to how we work and how we train.” [Yorkshire Live]
Coulibaly, 21, is still fairly inexperienced, especially more so to the English game as this summer is his first pre-season in England. Some players can get into sync with the rhythm and tempo of English football straight away, but most will gradually ease into the pattern of play and take a while to adjust.
The Malian midfielder has qualities that Sheffield United have lacked for a while. He is a box-to-box type player, a very strong runner who has the footballing intelligence to carry out pressing triggers as well as reading the game to break up play and intercept passes.
On top of this, Coulibaly does have an eye for goal and this in particular is something the Blades have lacked for a while. Sander Berge and Morgan Gibbs-White from an advanced position managed to find the net last season, but experienced midfielders John Fleck and Oli Norwood have been non existent when it comes to being a goal threat.
With five subs being permitted for this coming season, Coulibaly could be a very useful player to have due to his versatility and athleticism.