Ibrahim Sangaré - A Good Game Against Germany?

Playing as the holding midfielder for Côte d'Ivoire in a 4-3-3, Sangaré's main responsibility was to shield the back 4.

Perhaps surprisingly left out of his country’s first starting lineup against Ecuador, Nottingham Forest’s Ibrahim Sangaré was a starter against Germany last night, playing a slightly different role than he does for his club. Interestingly though, with Elliot Anderson’s impending departure and Head Coach Vitor Pereira’s willingness to try other systems, there’s a possibility we see him used in this position more when Forest return to action next season.

His main responsibility in this game in particular was to shield the back 4, we know having watched him for 3 seasons now that when he’s on his game, this is something that he can do very well.

In this first clip, he is initially in a position where he can react to any attempt by Germany to penetrate the central area of the final third, before pressing quickly and making a block on the pass. Sangarémade 9 blocks like this one during his 75 minutes on the pitch, more than any other player.

Here in the second half, Sangaré’s patience to remain static rather than get drawn to the ball allows him to pounce on the ball, intercept and start a quick transition attack. When playing this role, the movements you don’t make are just as important as the ones that you do - and we’re about to see why.