The first months of 2024 which are coming to an end have not been crowned with success for Ismaïla Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye. Lost in Marseille, eliminated prematurely in the African Cup of Nations, the two Senegalese found better days in England. Explanations of a still fragile rebound.
Goodbye Marseille, hello England. Ismaïla Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye returned to the Premier League, hoping to get back on track after a complicated year at Olympique de Marseille. Since then, the first has participated in 18 Premier League matches with Crystal Palace, he remains on 10 starts in a row, for 4 goals and 2 assists.
The second played 17 Championship matches with Everton, including 14 as a starter, with 3 goals on the clock, plus one in the Cup. Sarr, like Ndiaye, is only one unit away from his total number of goals for the 2023-2024 financial year, in all competitions, so Ndiaye reached it on Thursday, during Boxing Day, by equalizing against outgoing champion Manchester City. Several witnesses recount their quest for recovery.
With Watford, Sarr had already spent four seasons across the Channel, including two in the elite. “When we faced him in the Premier League in 2021-2022, I warned our players that when they lose the ball, he is formidable,” confides Saïd Aïgoun, assistant coach of Crystal Palace from 2021 to 2023. You have an offensive corner, he can bite you in transition, he likes to go from afar, repeat long distance runs. »
The former right-hand man of Patrick Vieira is attentive to Sarr’s production, in a club he knows by heart: “The sports director of Palace already loved him in our time. In L1, the game is more closed, less intense, you have to be patient. In the Premier League, the teams come to press, the high blocks leave you space behind them, that suits him. Things have been better since mid-November, he had only started twice from August to October. There, he gained momentum, like the team, since Tottenham, the first victory of the season (1-0, October 27). He settled down. He has a more central position, in a 3-4-2-1. He is often in the two attackers behind the center forward. He can be more effective in front of goal, in his body positions, his striking movements. »
For ex-Senegalese international Diomansy Kamara, Sarr is evolving in the right direction, at 26 years old: “He hired a physical trainer and an expert in specific training, to work on finishing in front of goal. It has restructured itself well. The results are starting to arrive. Ismaïla is a homebody, but he needed to have staff around him, to have competent people around. »
For Kamara, “lliman (Ndiaye) was undoubtedly stifled by the Marseille context, the expectation was far too great. At Everton, he is more in a club of his size, England better highlights his qualities, and he too has taken a physical trainer (Raphaël Guinguincoin). » Joined, by L’Equipe, after the draw between Everton and Chelsea (0-0), Sunday, Idrissa Gueye is delighted to talk about his Senegalese teammate: “He was very happy to return to England, a country that suits him well, with open play, box-to-box non-stop. He was not a starter because the coach wanted him to adapt to the Premier League, which he discovered after years in the Championship (2021-2023 with Sheffield United) and experience at OM in his favorite club. , from childhood. »
Gueye watches over “a super nice, super determined boy. People haven’t been too patient with him, he’s young (24 years old), he hasn’t shown 50% of his quality yet. He has to work hard, he has to want to go further, he has to set goals for himself in the national team as well as in the club, the African Ballon d’Or. He can carry the team. When we are in difficulty, we can give him the ball, he will give us something, make a difference. Iliman must realize that talent is not enough. We push it. At the club, everyone is very happy with him, the supporters, the players, the coach. » With the Team
