Can Peterborough’s Souleymane Coulibaly cut it in the Football League? After being released by Spurs, he has to impress to progress in his promising career. The star has recently fallen from grace, but a lustre still surrounds this exciting player.
In 2011, Coulibaly won the CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year award, beating Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow) and Ahmed El Shenawy (Zamalek Egypt) to this award. All three times are relatively unknown, but this award is still a sign of a player that definitely has some promise. Coulibaly has the potential to succeed at Posh and may yet serve to be an important player in the club’s future. How far Coulibaly develops really depends on how much game time he can receive.
Unfortunately, unless there are some transfers, Coulibaly has five other strikers to compete against, namely Conor Washington, Luke James and latest signing Joe Gormley. Harry Anderson only recently broke through at Posh and is therefore above Coulibaly in the pecking order. But, the development squad will offer some vital game time for Coulibaly and will allow him to fight for a place in the first team. For Posh fans, there might be a long wait before they see Coulibaly at his best, but the 2011 under-17 World Cup golden boot winner may just surprise fans if he does get his chance.
The young Ivorian has a definite knack of scoring goals. During his team in Spurs’ development squad, he scored twice in the 7-1 win against Inter Milan in the NextGen youth tournament and later scored against PSV Eindhoven in a 2-1 win. Not only has he proven his quality at European youth level, but he has also scored some goals for Spurs in the under-21 Premier League, including a cracking strike against Southampton.
Peterborough faced a Spurs XI in a pre-season friendly on the 18th of July, winning 4-2. In truth, it was Posh’s first team against Spurs’ youth team, until the last 20 minutes where some trialists were brought to the field. One trialist was a certain Souleymane Coulibaly. He only tested the keeper once in three attempts on goal, but his technique to execute the chance did force the Spurs keeper into a good save.
Coulibaly grabbed his first goal for Peterborough in a 2-1 win over Barnet on the 21st of July, in a game featuring a mix of first team and squad players. This is a great start for Coulibaly, who will gain confidence and also advance up the pecking order in the squad, posing a selection headache for manager Dave Robertson. Goals will be flowing in copious flows, and many of them may well just come from Coulibaly. But, he’ll need to do more than just score one goal to march his way into the first team.
Peterborough’s Souleymane Coulibaly has started well, already one goal in his one official appearance for Posh. Is it the first of many? The upcoming season will prove imperative for Coulibaly, but also for Posh who continue to push for promotion. The fans would love to see Coulibaly succeed, and Coulibaly will be eager to get his career back on track.
