STEVEN Gerrard, Michael Essien, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets. The Rangers manager is in august company when it comes to the list of midfield generals which Lassana Coulibaly hopes to emulate during the footballing journey which has taken him from Mali to Glasgow via Corsica and Angers.
The comparison with Liverpool’s Champions League winner might not always be obvious but the 22-year-old went some way towards playing like Gerrard in midweek. He did, after all, score a crucial goal in the latter stages of a European match.
We will only know how important Coulibaly’s header, from a Ryan Kent cross with five minutes to play at Ibrox, was on Thursday night, but Rangers can feel good about their chances of progression. They travel to Maribor with a 3-1 lead, and if a leaden-footed defensive display from the visitors in Glasgow is repeated, an away goal is not out of the question. Get through that, and only Russian side Ufa or a re-match with Luxembourg minnows Progres Niederkorn stand between them and a place in the group stages.
If others bring the panache and silky touches, Coulibaly is the engine or enforcer of this Rangers team. When Gerrard calls him a “machine”, he means it as a compliment. With his honesty and work-rate as a starting point, he feels the rest can come later.
“He [Gerrard] is always giving me advice and talking to me,” said
Coulibaly. “Given he was such a great midfield player I have to listen to him. I think he knows what he is talking about. The main thing he tells me is to make sure I control midfield. I have to run all over the pitch but stay in front of the defenders. And I have to make sure I always communicate with the other midfielders.
“I used to watch a lot of his matches when he was playing. The way he played football is what I aspire to. I want to be like him. I know he scored a lot of important goals during his career and that came from working hard. I want to work hard so I can try to be like him. I know that it is not going to be easy but I will always give it my best.
“Michael Essien was another of my favourite players. I used to watch him and other big players like Iniesta and Busquets. I would watch their movement, what they did off the ball, and try to improve myself as a player.”
The stats in Coulibaly’s career suggest Rangers fans should not be expecting goalscoring turns from their man every week. It was certainly a special moment when the ball hit the net midweek.
“It is always nice to score and even more so when it is a special goal,” he said. “I kept telling myself I needed to score so I was happy. The supporters were incredible when I scored. It was a very important goal for the team, but the tie is far from over. We have to remain focused and make sure we are ready for the second leg. When it was only 2-1 you are still slightly worried
“They were making it difficult but we didn’t give up and we got our reward. It was a very good second half. We played really well as a team. We need to try and play like this in every game. The first half was not too bad but the manager told us at half time we needed to play together and press together. That is what we did in the second half. A draw will be a good result for us over there now but we will still go out to win.”
Coulibaly is loving life on loan from French outfit Angers but whether he continues in Scotland beyond this season is uncertain.
“I’m happy to be here,” he said. “Everybody has made me feel welcome and helped me settle. I’m really enjoying being part of this team and I love being in this city. I don’t know what will happen in the future but I’m here for one season. I will give my best to help the team and for the team to help me. After the season finishes we will see what happens.”
After Europe, the focus returns to the league today and a home meeting with St Mirren. The Ibrox side find themselves already two points in arrears on Celtic but Coulibaly is optimistic.
“Of course I think we can challenge for the league,” he said. “We have a lot of new players but even after a couple of games you can see we are a team. We have a good spirit and we will give it our best to challenge Celtic.”
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