CAN 2022: Ibrahim Sangaré imposes his paw on the Elephants
Ivorian PSV Eindhoven midfielder Ibrahim Sangaré after scoring against Vitesse on November 20, 2021. AFP - MAURICE VAN STEEN
Text by: Tom Rossi Follow
3 min
He will compose with Franck Kessié, one of the best midfielders of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon (January 9-February 6).
The Ivorian of PSV Eindhoven, Ibrahim Sangaré, elected player of the month of November of the Dutch championship, amazes in the Netherlands.
He has everything to become one of the bosses of the Elephants.
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At the start of 2022, the two biggest clubs in the Netherlands are asking the same question: "
how to do without our Elephant in January?"
".
Ajax Amsterdam, reigning champions and current Eredivisie runner-up, will have to do without top scorer in the championship
Sébastien Haller
, and PSV Eindhoven, leaders one point ahead, will have to do without Ibrahim Sangaré, the most important player in the league. the team according to local media.
At 24, the midfielder is indeed living the best period of his young career.
Arrived on tiptoe in September 2020 from Toulouse relegated to Ligue 2, Ibrahim Sangaré quickly established himself in the midfield, becoming the holder in the first month.
At the heart of the reactor in Eindhoven
Not always imperial with the ball on the foot last season, the one who trained at Denguelé Sports d'Odienné has made a lot of progress in this area. Closer to the opponent's area and technically fine, the defensive midfielder has already scored three goals in 15 games, two more than in 29 games in the previous year. And when he scores, Ibrahim Sangaré likes to clean the skylight, like against Sparta Rotterdam on October 3 (see video above).
His technical ease also allows him to be the custodian of the game of his team, leader at mid-season.
The number 6 of PSV is the one with the highest average passes per game of his club (77), ahead of the very experienced Mario Götze, 2014 world champion with Germany.
He is fourth in the Dutch championship in this area and achieves the feat of succeeding almost 87% of his passes.
Netherlands Player of the Month for November
Many actions go through him in Eindhoven.
Before passing the ball on to his teammates, Ibrahim Sangaré often recovered it.
He is one of the best in the championship in this area with an average of 2.4 interceptions and 3.2 successful tackles per game, or nearly 6 defensive interventions that allow his team to recover the ball.
A single player does better in the countries of the "Oranjes".
This "
shy of nature
" is therefore absolutely not on the ground where he reigns in the middle, to the point of having been crowned best player of the month of November in Eredivisie.
A distinction which absolutely did not surprise his trainer Roger Schmidt: “
He is a very good midfielder because he is good with and without the ball.
He is reliable and strong in duels.
He has all the qualities that a central environment needs
”.
𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡: Ibrahim Sangare 🏆 🇨🇮 The midfielder of @psveindhoven with 2️⃣ goals and the most successful passes (207), most ball recoveries (32) and most shots (8) 📊
Read more: https://t.co / WlGOodreXY #potm pic.twitter.com/Gr6F9ZGsCv
- Eredivisie (English) (@EredivisieEN) December 3, 2021
At the heart of a strong duo among the Elephants
Very efficient and boss of the middle at PSV, he could also become one with the Elephants.
In the hierarchy, Franck Kessié of AC Milan is still the captain, but Ibrahim Sangaré managed to win alongside him to form one of the best pairs of defensive midfielders in Africa.
For the moment, this duo is still getting to know each other before probably playing together for many years since Sangaré is only 24 years old and Kessié, 25 years old.
This bodes very well for Côte d'Ivoire which hopes that these two will be in great shape at the
CAN
, after having recently contracted the Covid-19.
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