Former England Manager Fabio Capello Slams Kalidou Koulibaly’s Slow Start at Chelsea

Former England Manager Fabio Capello Slams Kalidou Koulibaly’s Slow Start at Chelsea

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:13 PM
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  • Kalidou Koulibaly's short time in the English Premier League has come under sharp scrutiny from former Three Lions boss Fabio Capello
  • Koulibaly has had mixed fortunes since signing for Chelsea from Napoli earlier in the summer
  • Capello feels that the towering Senegal defender is yet to show the character at personality he had in Italy

Fabio Capello has launched a scathing attack on Chelsea's defender Kalidou Koulibaly. Capello has stated that Koulibaly has not been himself since making the switch to Chelsea this summer.

Chelsea signed Koulibaly from Napili to address their centre back issues following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.

Kalidou Koulibaly, Graham Potter, Fabio Capello, Chelsea, Napoli
Kalidou Koulibaly talks to his head coach Graham Potter during Chelsea's game against AC Milan on October 5th. Photo by Robin Jones.
Source: Getty Images

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Koulibaly started life brilliantly in the Premier League, scoring a stunner on his Stamford Bridge debut against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

But afterwards, his performances have raised eyebrows as Chelsea struggled for consistency. Thomas Tuchel was subsequently sacked as head coach and new boss Graham Potter dropped him from his first two games in charge.

The Africa Cup of Nations-winning captain was restored to the line-up in a back three during Chelsea's clash against AC Milan.

Potter's side put in a dominant performance against the Italian champions to beat them 3-0. The victory marked Chelsea's first three points in this season's campaign. Every Chelsea player, including Koulibaly, had a decent game, but Capello wants more, as Daily Mail reports.

"At Chelsea, he has no personality. When he has the ball at his feet, he hesitates. He is not playing quickly, he does not do what he did at Napoli.
At Napoli, he commanded, he came forward, he made long passes, now he has the ball between his feet, he does not know who to pass it to and he always plays passes to someone only a few meters away."

Koulibaly will be hoping for more chances as he prepares to lead his Senegal side to the FIFA World Cup, where they will face the Netherlands, hosts Qatar and Ecuador in Group A.

Chelsea's Wesly Fofana suffers a seemingly horrible injury against AC Milan

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Chelsea's 3-0 win over AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday night came at a great cost - an injury to Wesley Fofana.

The defender, who joined the Blues this past summer, had to leave the pitch after 35 minutes after he was fouled by Milan's Rafael Leao. He broke down in tears after his substitution, evidence that the injury could be bad.

The 21-year-old Frenchman opened the scoring for Graham Potter's men and was on course to produce a man-of-the-match performance. Fofana was signed from Leicester City this past summer for £75 million.

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Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
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