IHe returned to training on May 15, 2023, after a few weeks recovering at the federal medical center in Clairefontaine. Too tight to participate in the final sprint, but determined to prepare to leave behind the injuries – periostitis, shoulder, pubalgia then two quadriceps injuries – which had polluted his last two seasons. A year later, the choice of Issouf Sissokho and the Bordeaux medical staff to give themselves time has paid off: the 22-year-old midfielder is on the verge of completing an exercise at professional level for the first time without a hitch.
“Physically, things are going well,” he rejoiced on March 28 at a press conference, without hiding a little frustration: irregular playing time (28 appearances in L2, 12 starts). “When you don’t go back to back (the matches), they’re not the same performances but I’m still happy with where I got. Now I want to play even more. It doesn’t always depend on me. » The suspension of Gaétan Weissbeck, this Friday against Ajaccio, then that of Danylo Ignatenko in Concarneau on May 10, can reopen the door for him.
Less seen since February
Since August, Issouf Sissokho has not managed to get rid of the role of “Swiss army knife” of the bench that his former coach David Guion took on. As “understudy” of Weissbeck in 10, of Pedro Diaz in front of the defense or even of right eccentric. Paradoxically, his second start under the orders of Albert Riera, missed and marked by an exit at half-time at QRM (3-2), had opened his best series of the season. Gaétan Weissbeck expelled, the Malian international hopeful had made five starts over the next eight days of L2 (3 wins and two draws; 5 average in “Sud Ouest” ratings) with his two best performances against Grenoble and at Amiens to finish.
The next one in Rodez, average after the replacement at short notice of the injured Weissbeck during the warm-up, marked a turning point (2-2), apparently overtaken by the returning Alexi Pitu in the hierarchy of relay midfielders. His last opportunities, replacing the injured Romanian at the last moment against Bastia (2-3) and at the end of the match in Saint-Etienne (1-2), did not work in his favor.
For Albert Riera, “he is a player capable of running more, being in several parts of the field. In our positional game, he knows what he has to do. He’s improved on that.”
Sissokho knows that his coach expects him to be more decisive, scorer or passer
Everything remains open
With rather interesting statistics (90% successful passes, 3 balls recovered per match on average), his volume and his ability to project towards the opposing goal, Sissokho also knows that his coach expects him to be more decisive. His second and last goal dates back to December 2021 against the amateurs of the Jumeaux de Mzouazia and he only has one “decisive pass” (penalty caused against QRM in August 2022). “It’s going to happen by trying more strikes,” he thinks. I haven’t been far lately. I’m not afraid to try but I’ve been trained to favor the collective and if my friend is in a better position, I’ll make the pass. » Internally, we praise his state of mind but we also emphasize that he has been too irregular this season so far to shake up the hierarchy.
Four and a half years after his arrival at Haillan, the summer will be a turning point in the career of the Malian, so promising during his debut in Ligue 1 with Jean-Louis Gasset then Vladimir Petkovic. When he took office in the summer of 2021, president Gérard Lopez saw him as the squad’s player of the future. The Olympic Games, where he hopes to be able to perform alongside his teenage friend Kamory Doumbia, revealed this season with Brest, will perhaps be an opportunity to turn a corner.
And there will be the transfer window, one year from the end of his contract. Both options – extension or placing on the market – are open. In the vagueness around the future of the club at all levels, sporting and financial, a point must be made before the end of the championship. By then, he should have an opportunity to make an impression.
