Mali Head Coach Reveals Why He Dropped Yves Bissouma Against Nigeria

Mali head coach, Eric Chelle, has revealed that he didn’t invite highly-rated Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, Yves Bissouma, for the international friendlies against Mauritania and Nigeria because he doesn’t fit his style of play.

The Mali head coach stressed that Yves Bissouma is just one of the talented players who were not selected for the international friendly because of his “diamond” style of football.

Bissouma has the chance to play for either Ivory Coast or Mali but he chose to play for the latter. He made his international debut on October 18, 2015.

Since then, the 27-year-old center-midfielder has made 33 appearances for Mali in which he scored three goals.

He has played 20 times for Tottenham Hotspur so far this season which is a prove that he has been in a fair form.

But coach Eric Chelle didn’t deem him fit enough for his team ahead of the March international break despite having a game against a team as big as the Super Eagles at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26.

Initially, the speculation was that Bissouma wasn’t included in Chelle’s squad due to an injury but that speculation was defeated when Tottenham Hotspur coach, Ange Postecoglou, used him in their last league game against Fulham before the international break on March 16.

“Like many players, he deserves to be selected, it’s just a choice”, the Mali head coach told a press conference ahead of their friendly game against Nigeria.

“In my diamond, there are players right now who are slightly safer. That doesn’t mean he won’t be called again.”

Naija News gathered that Yves Bissouma has deleted all his Instagram posts related to the Mali national team which is a prove that he is not happy that he was sidelined for the March international break.