Player Watch: Moussa Sissoko

[Phomesy]

So reading 'Brave New World' on page 218 this paragraph stood out to me

" Around that time I had a very tricky conversation with one of the key men, whose name I'll keep to myself for the time being. It was our second in the space of a year. I got Jesus to prepare the ground the spent almost an hour talking. I swooped to add the finishing touches although Jesus kept chiming with phrases like " You do this in training, this in games and these are the statistics". I went down the contract route: " If you carry on like this, we don't need you" There ended being a trigger in a video that we showed him, clearly proving that he reacted conservatively on two occasions in the same match instead of doing what he should've done, which was to move forwards. His decision affected him and the team"

There is no doubt in my mind after reading the bulk of the book that Poch and the coaching staff have sat Sissoko down and asked him to play in the fashion we saw today. They understand his limitations and are okay with him playing the role that he does. We can slam and criticize Sissoko but Poch keeps picking him and starting him in games. For whatever reason Mauricio believes that Sissoko is either a safer bet or truly feels that no youth players can stand in and perform the duties he does.

It's also obvious to anyone who actually watches our games. I posted weeks ago that it's blindingly obvious that Sissoko is playing to a strict set of commands and, whatever he's doing is what the coaches want him to do.

You'd think some on here don't actually watch how we play - but just have a fantasy in their heads about how we should play. It gets silly at times.

 

[talkshowhost86]

Needs to be sold and replaced by someone who can change a game.

Hopefully with Winks and Wanyama back we'll never have to see him in central midfield again (if that's where he was allegedly playing) but either way last night showed that we miss something different off the bench, and we miss Sissoko even when he's on the pitch.

 

[Phomesy]

Would Sissoko be described as a “key man”?

If so, i still don’t see how Sissoko’s recent performances reflect that conversation? Nowhere does that say “we told him to avoid the ball and point a lot”.

I don't think SlumDilla was inferring from the text he quoted that Sissoko was the player being talked about but was making the point that Poch and the Coaches have specific on field orders for specific players and expect those orders to carried out automatically.

Anyone who has bothered to watch us play this year will have noticed that Sissoko's role in the 4-2-3-1 in CM is to fill the spce on the right and block the counter when we are playing the whole team in the opposition's half. Because he's not great on the ball - and losing it when set up like that can be catastrophic on the counter - he's instructed to give the ball to his fellow CM, RB or Eriksen.

It's only happened in every game he's played in that system. So maybe people might start to get it sooner or later.

NB: None of this means I agree or think it warrants his place in the side. I just wish people would understand he's playing a role that's been dictated to him. And he does it exactly how he's been told because if he didn't he'd be dropped and sold - as SlumDilla's excerpt shows...

 

[coys200]

The only time sissoko is a reasonable option is in a more open game where he can use his pace and power on the counter. This doesn’t include top 6 games as his lack of ball control is a liability. So basically his only use would be in games against teams like Watford Leicester etc . There is no universe in which he is any use against a team that parks the bus. The fact Poch selected him and persevered with him for 70 minutes has to be one of the most ridiculous managerial judgements I’ve ever seen. Even Sherwood could see the right change at half time. Staggering and worrying Poch couldn’t.

 

[whitesocks]

He was bought for exactly this kind of game, where all the tippy-tappy football gets snuffed out.
He is meant to just power through and cause chaos.

Instead he just played backwards the whole game.

 

[glacierSpurs]

Agree that he's playing to strict commands. I don't think he can be blamed much for us not scoring when we had numerous attempts, albeit not clear cut ones.

Onus is on Poch to not start him. Or at least take him off EARLY, not needing being a goal down and 70th minute to realise he's not the right choice good grief.

 

[mpickard2087]

I think it's being far, far, far too kind to say he is playing to instructions. Even if he is trying to (and I'm really not convinced he is), he isn't taking up any intelligent positions in half spaces to cover or offer himself for the ball and then get on it and keep play ticking over. He just charges blindly charges into the thick of the action on the flank, almost always dragging over another marker with him and killing any space for our right back.

If that's playing to instruction, I'd fucking hate to see him left to his own devices......

 

[tiger666]

He was bought for exactly this kind of game.

I doubt it. He's meant for running on the counter with space. He doesn't have the close control to beat a packed defence.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I don't think SlumDilla was inferring from the text he quoted that Sissoko was the player being talked about but was making the point that Poch and the Coaches have specific on field orders for specific players and expect those orders to carried out automatically.

Anyone who has bothered to watch us play this year will have noticed that Sissoko's role in the 4-2-3-1 in CM is to fill the spce on the right and block the counter when we are playing the whole team in the opposition's half. Because he's not great on the ball - and losing it when set up like that can be catastrophic on the counter - he's instructed to give the ball to his fellow CM, RB or Eriksen.

It's only happened in every game he's played in that system. So maybe people might start to get it sooner or later.

NB: None of this means I agree or think it warrants his place in the side. I just wish people would understand he's playing a role that's been dictated to him. And he does it exactly how he's been told because if he didn't he'd be dropped and sold - as SlumDilla's excerpt shows...

So the rest of the CM's and AM's are instructed just to let the opposition counter at will?

It's a massive leap of interpretation by you to surmise from that very different instruction to a very different player (?) that the crap Sissoko is doing (and not even doing it well) is following some masterplan to the letter.

Even if your interpretation of Pochettino's tactical application of Sissoko was remotely on the money, I'd still think it was a deeply flawed compromise and very poor tactically by Pochettino.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

It's also obvious to anyone who actually watches our games. I posted weeks ago that it's blindingly obvious that Sissoko is playing to a strict set of commands and, whatever he's doing is what the coaches want him to do.

You'd think some on here don't actually watch how we play - but just have a fantasy in their heads about how we should play. It gets silly at times.

Or, he's just not very good?

 

[Phomesy]

Or, he's just not very good?

I don't think he's very good but I'm not the bloke picking him every week.

What's flawed about your interpretation of Poch's tactical application is that you don't ever bother to actually deal in the reality of Poch's tactical application. You analyse what you think should happen. Not what Poch actually does.

I like your tactical thoughts. think they're interesting and intriguing. Would like to see them deployed. But they bear no actual resemblance to what Poch actually does week in week out. This is made clear in your bizarre and frankly stubborn refusal to believe the evidence of your eyes in how Sissoko is deployed and why he keeps playing week after week. It really is very simple but you seem to think Poch just plays a shit player for the hell of it.

I don't know how I can help you out any more. You seem determined to tilt at windmills. It must be very frustrating for you.

 

[yankspurs]

Atrocious player. Worst technical footballer I have ever seen play and I am an American, ffs! This country and our national team is filled to the brim with shit footballers! In fact saying footballer wrt him is generous. He is not a footballer. He is an athlete. The fact Poch continues to play him is at the very least, highly questionable. He needs to be sold, loaned and frozen out for the reat of the season. Recall Onomah.

 

[whitesocks]

I doubt it. He's meant for running on the counter with space. He doesn't have the close control to beat a packed defence.

No, we have much much better options than him when on the counter. That's not our problem.

Dembele has the best close control and has the power to shrug off players, but not even he can get through these packed defences. They just dog pile onto his back. We need something different.

I want to see Sissoko running full pelt into the fray, the ball pinging about randomly in his general location, bodies trampled under his weetabix box sized boots.

 

[Martinhotspur]

The most annoying thing last night was he did not close down the player for West Hams goal. His overall play was poor not a creative brain cell in his head.

 

[E17yid]

The most annoying thing last night was he did not close down the player for West Hams goal. His overall play was poor not a creative brain cell in his head.

He always puts in a shift though, apparently.

 

[EQP]

So the rest of the CM's and AM's are instructed just to let the opposition counter at will?

It's a massive leap of interpretation by you to surmise from that very different instruction to a very different player (?) that the crap Sissoko is doing (and not even doing it well) is following some masterplan to the letter.

Even if your interpretation of Pochettino's tactical application of Sissoko was remotely on the money, I'd still think it was a deeply flawed compromise and very poor tactically by Pochettino.

The point of the except was to show the importance of following the instructions that Poch and the coaching team pass down to the players and that if you stray away they will seek to correct/address your non-compliance. They analyze every training session and game, I highly doubt the fact that Sissoko struggles to pass the ball forward and is very limited with the other technical parts of the game have escaped them.

The more troubling part is that even with all this wealth of knowledge and archival footage, they persist with Sissoko. Instead of introducing a youth player that they can mold into their image ( I truly believe KWP, one of the best trainers at the club, would do better than Sissoko) they feel that Moussa offers something and are willing to overlook his shortcomings as a player.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I don't think he's very good but I'm not the bloke picking him every week.

What's flawed about your interpretation of Poch's tactical application is that you don't ever bother to actually deal in the reality of Poch's tactical application. You analyse what you think should happen. Not what Poch actually does.

I like your tactical thoughts. think they're interesting and intriguing. Would like to see them deployed. But they bear no actual resemblance to what Poch actually does week in week out. This is made clear in your bizarre and frankly stubborn refusal to believe the evidence of your eyes in how Sissoko is deployed and why he keeps playing week after week. It really is very simple but you seem to think Poch just plays a shit player for the hell of it.

I don't know how I can help you out any more. You seem determined to tilt at windmills. It must be very frustrating for you.

No, what I am arguing is that, even if your interpretation of Poch's tactical application of Sissoko is correct, it's a poor tactical application, a remit he doesn't fulfil well and it's also counter intuitive.

Sissoko's role in the 4-2-3-1 in CM is to fill the spce on the right and block the counter when we are playing the whole team in the opposition's half. Because he's not great on the ball - and losing it when set up like that can be catastrophic on the counter

That would pretty much be the remit of any RCM in a CM2, of a team that are playing high, that is not some tactical revelation. But Sissoko isn't even very effective in a defensive capacity higher up the pitch, he spent most of last night man marking their LCB, of the five games we have lost, he started 3 of them, he averages less than a tackle a game and less than half an interception, less than Winks, Alli and Eriksen, positionally when we are defending high up, he's rarely in the right place at the right time.

What is most counter-intuitive, is if losing the ball is catastrophic, putting someone in such a pivotal position - "who is not great on the ball". For someone who's remit is supposed to be cautious with the ball to avoid catastrophe, he actually gives it away 10% more than Winks does, despite seeing and passing about 40% less.

What I don't get though is you say you agree he isn't very good, and wouldn't be your choice either, so you pretty much agree with what I'm saying, no? So what exactly is your counter argument, that you think he's good at the remit he's given ?

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

The concept of a player like Sissoko is great. If we picture upgrading on a player that would have been the upgrade of Sissoko, I think we'd have a killer player.
However, Sissoko is what've got. I remember rarlier this month, I likened Barkley to a cup of weak filter coffee if what you want is actually a mug of Irish coffee. In that same equation, Sissoko is the goddarn instant Nescafe Gold coffee that you stir into hot water and hold your breath before swallowing.

 

[thecook]

Brilliant, If he's playing to strict instructions then forget blaming him, it's Poch that need to be binned. What a load of shite

 

[EQP]

I don't think he's very good but I'm not the bloke picking him every week.

What's flawed about your interpretation of Poch's tactical application is that you don't ever bother to actually deal in the reality of Poch's tactical application. You analyse what you think should happen. Not what Poch actually does.

I like your tactical thoughts. think they're interesting and intriguing. Would like to see them deployed. But they bear no actual resemblance to what Poch actually does week in week out. This is made clear in your bizarre and frankly stubborn refusal to believe the evidence of your eyes in how Sissoko is deployed and why he keeps playing week after week. It really is very simple but you seem to think Poch just plays a shit player for the hell of it.

I don't know how I can help you out any more. You seem determined to tilt at windmills. It must be very frustrating for you.

Agreed. They (Poch, Jesus, Miki and Toni) pick the teams and set the instructions for all the players and he unfortunately gets all the hate but is really doing what the coaching staff ask of him. Moving forward every post about Sissoko should honestly read " We've established that Sissoko is not very good but why does Poch keep picking him?"

I've been suggesting that KWP, a technically gifted and versatile player, could do better than Sissoko. KWP is intelligent, fantastic dribbler and is young enough for Poch to mold into his image. I'm shocked that the coaching staff haven't tried to better integrate KWP into the team by playing him as a RM/AM/CM, as his skillset would be invaluable in either one of those positions. This I believe is the true travesty, the lack of creativity that Poch has shown with the young players at his disposal.