"Not good at all" - Sheffield United loanee Ismaila Coulibaly hit with damning verdict from manager

Ismaila Coulibaly, the Sheffield United man, has been told he "has to get better" by his manager at Allsvenskan club AIK after attracting criticism from the club's supporters for his performance in their Swedish Cup semi-final defeat to Djurgården. The Malian midfielder joined AIK on loan in the last transfer window, in a bid to kickstart his career.

Coulibaly has played only fleetingly for United since moving to Bramall Lane after his long-term loan spell at sister club Beerschot was cut short over visa concerns, and he was allowed to leave in another temporary move to get some much-needed gametime. Coulibaly was withdrawn in the dramatic semi-final defeat which went to penalties after Victor Andersson's 95th minute equaliser, only for Djurgården to win the shootout 3-2.

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Coulibaly's display in that game attracted ire from the club's supporters and a blunt admission from Henning Berg, the former Manchester United defender now in charge at Friends Arena. “We sold Jonah Kusi Asare, and then we lacked an offensive player," the Norwegian told Fotbollskanalen. "Coulibaly was good against Mjällby, or at least okay.

"He wasn’t so good now against Djurgården, or he wasn’t good at all. So, he has to get better. I can understand that when a player is not at his best, this question comes up. When we beat Mjällby away, there were not so many people talking. So my task is to take out the team that I think is the best.

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"If Coulibaly had been at his normal level, or closer to his best level, he would have played much better against Djurgården. If I don't take the team that I think is the best, it's not fair to the players. So what should I say to the players at training? Then they don't have to fight to get into the team. We have to be able to take out the team that I think is the best.

"Then it is important to remember that you have a team that you start with and then you have a team that you finish the match with. We need more than 11 players in a match. The team we ended the match with against Djurgården was completely different from the one we started with. It might have gone worse if we had started in a different way, and finished in a different way - or maybe it would have gone better?"

United hold the option to extend Coulibaly's contract by a further season but it remains to be seen if they will exercise it, ahead of a dramatic summer rebuild that could see a host of established first-team stars leave on free transfers when their contracts expire.