Player Watch: Moussa Sissoko

[Disconosebleed]

I think we're all kidding ourselves here.

Last season he looked like he won a competition to be on the pitch. This season he looks like a footballer, but still a bang average one. Yes he's putting in more effort, but I'm not going to jizz my pants due to the fact that he's actually trying.

Absolute horse shit. He was crap last season but was still putting effort in. This season he's continued to work hard and is playing well. Not brilliantly, but he's certainly not letting anyone down. In a generally underwhelming start to the season he has been one of our better players so far.

 

[Jamturk]

I do think that we would do well to remember that a new player arriving in a new club is not just a question of plug n play. So many factors on and off the pitch from all sides of the club need to gel.

We really need to give players more than 10 games or 1 season before we wield our sticks.

 

[yido_number1]

Definitely improving and unlike last season he seems to be getting stuck into people a bit more which is good to see. He's never going to have the best touch but some of his randomness must make him hard to read for the oppo.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

Hes not been playing CM if you actually watch him, he drops down to CM but he plays more of an advanced CM/AM role that drifts right but not like last season when he was right of the three
This him against swansea

What this doesnt show is that Vertonghen and Alderwiereld were pretty much our CM's in the last 10 mins and Trippier's position is skewed due to him playing RB and LWB

You forget that Sissoko also played at RB for a chunk of the game.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Pretty good game from him today, but Winks showed what we actually miss in central midfield when he plays there with Dier. I prefer him in that more advanced role and an actual ball player like Winks deeper.

I don't want Sissoko on the pitch at all, but that role he ended up in last night, is far closer to the only one he's ever been remotely effective in.

At Toulouse he played predominantly that kind of role in a 4141 diamond and at Newcastle wrf in a 433.

 

[alfie103]

I thought he did ok yesterday and in the west ham game, he is working harder defensively and putting his foot in more. However, he is still a limited player and we all shouldn't start saying he is playing really well.

 

[Shadydan]

I thought he did ok yesterday and in the west ham game, he is working harder defensively and putting his foot in more. However, he is still a limited player and we all shouldn't start saying he is playing really well.

We all shouldn't say he is playing well even though he is....? k then

 

[Disconosebleed]

I don't want Sissoko on the pitch at all, but that role he ended up in last night, is far closer to the only one he's ever been remotely effective in.

At Toulouse he played predominantly that kind of role in a 4141 diamond and at Newcastle wrf in a 433.

IIRC he regularly played on the left for Newcastle.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

IIRC he regularly played on the left for Newcastle.

I'm not sure it was regular, but if he played on the left it was still in the front three, not the middle one mostly.

 

[Disconosebleed]

Oh yeah definitely not through the middle, his touch is too dodgy to be anywhere near crowded areas.

 

[Krule]

The problem is that possibly we watch him and think his performance is a definite improvement on last season forgetting just how really,really bad he was then. Instead of simply currently rating him we are subconsciously comparing him to the Sissoko who first joined....and his form was so bad that as the song goes "Things can only get better".

Poch is giving him more playing time and there must be a reason for him doing so....whether he will prove to everyone that there's no reason to fork out more money for Ross Barkley will surely be revealed before the next transfer window opens.

He has been handed an opportunity...let's see what he does with it.

 

[mano-obe]

The run of games is helping. Just look at Ben Davies, I didn't want that bloke anywhere near the starting eleven a year ago, now I want in him the first team every week

 

[Singayid]

"Credit where it's due. He was everywhere today. It was a really dynamic performance," said Danny Murphy

 

[alfie103]

We all shouldn't say he is playing well even though he is....? k then

He isn't playing well. He is doing a basic job that a premier league centre midfielder should do.

 

[Shadydan]

He isn't playing well. He is doing a basic job that a premier league centre midfielder should do.

He is playing well, why do you think he keeps on being picked by a manager who pick players in the team on merit?

 

[alfie103]

He is playing well, why do you think he keeps on being picked by a manager who pick players in the team on merit?

Because Wanyama and Dembele are injured and we don't have many other options. I think Winks could do just as good a job in midfield, if not better.

 

[Shadydan]

Because Wanyama and Dembele are injured and we don't have many other options. I think Winks could do just as good a job in midfield, if not better.

Right so Winks should be starting over Sissoko then by rights in that case then shouldn't he?

Believe me if he wasn't playing well in the manager's eyes he wouldn't be in the team, whether we have cover or not, we know what Poch is like, he obviously is encouraged by his performances and in my mind he is getting better and more confident.

 

[alfie103]

Right so Winks should be starting over Sissoko then by rights in that case then shouldn't he?

Believe me if he wasn't playing well in the manager's eyes he wouldn't be in the team, whether we have cover or not, we know what Poch is like, he obviously is encouraged by his performances and in my mind he is getting better and more confident.

I believe he should but it is up to Poch who he thinks will do the better job. I just think people are going overboard saying he is playing really when he is doing ok and a basic job.

 

[FootballWhispers]

Hi guys,

We've written a bit about Sissoko's recent form, which we've been impressed with – you can read that here.

Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks,

Thomas

 

[Shadydan]

I believe he should but it is up to Poch who he thinks will do the better job. I just think people are going overboard saying he is playing really when he is doing ok and a basic job.

This comes down to expectations though doesn't it, if you expect him to be able to trap a ball and turn on a sixpence in one move and then thread an intricate ball through to a team mate then he's not going to do it but that isn't his remit. If you expect him to contribute both offensively and defensively, setup chances from time to time, continually press and harry and break opposition defences through direct running which in turn gives out other players space (which is more or less what he was bought for) then you'd have to say he's doing that well and this is a reason why he keeps on getting picked.

The bottom line is that people just have a bias against him because he doesn't suit their ideology of a Tottenham player, what we've yearned for throughout history as a set of fans are players who are elegant, technical and skillful not players who are languid and look awkward on the ball. Sissoko is obviously the latter and people just can't get their head around the fact that he's playing in our midfield, those people are missing the point...The point is that he's contributing to our team whether you like to admit it or not or whether you don't want to see it.