Player Watch: Moussa Sissoko

[Derp]

I already miss preseason Sissoko

 

[Good Doctor M]

It's not meant to be.

 

[Hazardousman]

It's not meant to be.

He is just a bad footballer IMO, I really don't understand what we witnessed with him that made us think he was such a good buy.

European tourneys are often not a good indicator of a players quality, consistency in quality is more important when signing someone I think.

 

[Snarfalicious]

He's really got to go. I just have no faith that we will get what Levy will want for him.

 

[PrettyColors]

If only we had wisely invested, or rather saved that £30m last summer. Could have made all the difference, especially in a league with such thin margins. Us blowing £30m is a comparable decimation of our budget to City/United/Chelsea throwing away £80-100m.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

hope we have found the right way to utilize him

 

[bat-chain]

He deserved a goal today, he did a lot of good things.

Hope the injury is nothing serious.

 

[Derp]

One thing i liked was Sissokos vertical runs. Yeah he missed everything and his technical ability is questionable. His first touch is bad and he makes simple passes look difficult. But he can run and it's refreshing to see some runs from our midfield. Look how many players we have running in and around the box when Eriksen scored.

You rarely see Dembele make those runs without the ball. Those runs are so important because they open up the defense. It makes it easier to create space for other players. Runs and first touch passing is so important for us.(look at our third goal how Eriksen quickly passes it up the pitch to Kane).

It's not like Dembele can change his playstyle, but i do often feel like we would benefit from some more vertical runs like Sissoko. A midfield of Dembele and Dier is a lot more "static".

 

['O Zio]

Really baffled by people saying he had a good game today. I lost count of the amount of attacks that completely fell apart as soon as he got involved. Numerous times where we'd pass to him and he was offside or would immediately play a terrible overhit pass/cross to nobody or would underhit it and give the ball away. Alli looked like he was getting really frustrated with him at times. There was one point when Sissoko tried to lay it off for Kane on the edge of the area, Kane was about 3 yds away from his and yet he somehow managed to underhit the pass. If you cant play a 3 yd pass you've got no business being in our side.

For what it's worth, I'm really not someone who is just determined to bash him at every opportunity and I actually do want him to succeed, but I just can't see what he offers at all. Yes, he's very athletic, but he seems utterly incapable of doing even the basics right on the ball. It didn't matter today because we thrashed them anyway, but the 5 or 6 attacks that he completely fucked up could've been the difference between 3 pts and a loss on another day against better opposition. We simply can't afford to carry him in the team.

 

[Shadydan]

Really baffled by people saying he had a good game today. I lost count of the amount of attacks that completely fell apart as soon as he got involved. Numerous times where we'd pass to him and he was offside or would immediately play a terrible overhit pass/cross to nobody or would underhit it and give the ball away. Alli looked like he was getting really frustrated with him at times. There was one point when Sissoko tried to lay it off for Kane on the edge of the area, Kane was about 3 yds away from his and yet he somehow managed to underhit the pass. If you cant play a 3 yd pass you've got no business being in our side.

For what it's worth, I'm really not someone who is just determined to bash him at every opportunity and I actually do want him to succeed, but I just can't see what he offers at all. Yes, he's very athletic, but he seems utterly incapable of doing even the basics right on the ball. It didn't matter today because we thrashed them anyway, but the 5 or 6 attacks that he completely fucked up could've been the difference between 3 pts and a loss on another day against better opposition. We simply can't afford to carry him in the team.

I think you probably need to alter your expectations of him in that case.

 

['O Zio]

I think you probably need to alter your expectations of him in that case.

Not sure what you mean there mate, sorry.

 

[matthew.absurdum]

hope we have found the right way to utilize him

Don't understand why managers keep playing him as an attacking midfielder. Just like onomah, much more comfortable as a CM

 

[Shadydan]

Not sure what you mean there mate, sorry.

Well I think people are saying he played well because no-one's expecting a fantastic first touch or defence splitting passes instead expecting him to work hard through direct running and offering a nuisance factor which is essentially what he was bought for, it was the reason why Eriksen had so much space to dictate the play because Sissoko was distracting Guaeye and Schnierderlin so when you say that he doesn't have any place in this team I disagree because he clearly does, he may not be people's ideals of a Tottenham player but there's a reason why he was picked today and I can see him being picked more based on that performance.

 

[freeeki]

Good performance from the bloke we put on in Sissoko's shirt today. Anyone know who it was?

 

[Mr Pink]

Guy plays pretty well and still gets stick, couldn't make it up ffs.

The fuck is wrong with people.

 

[desert spur]

i liked him in a more central role. his strength and aggression helped control the middle. he seems to offer something different but not worse than winks/dembele/dier/wanyama.

 

[npearl4spurs]

His passing and touch are very frustrating, but man, his athleticism gives teams headaches in midfield. Useful option to have. Still not my choice to start - I can't help but wince when I see his name on the team sheet - but I was very pleased with his performance.

 

[Marty]

Definitely far better in a central role, no doubt about it. I still get annoyed with the brainless runs he makes tbh, twice he ruined potentially good opportunities by not checking the line and just sprinting into offside. Has to be more alert of his surroundings.

 

['O Zio]

Well I think people are saying he played well because no-one's expecting a fantastic first touch or defence splitting passes instead expecting him to work hard through direct running and offering a nuisance factor which is essentially what he was bought for, it was the reason why Eriksen had so much space to dictate the play because Sissoko was distracting Guaeye and Schnierderlin so when you say that he doesn't have any place in this team I disagree because he clearly does, he may not be people's ideals of a Tottenham player but there's a reason why he was picked today and I can see him being picked more based on that performance.

I appreciate what you're saying but for me, being able to make dummy runs isn't enough to warrant a place in our team on its own. While people doing that clearly plays an important role, that person also has to be at least semi-comfortable on the ball when called upon. While his runs may have opened up space for Erisken etc. which created chances, I think his general lack of any ability on the ball cost us as many chances as he helped create. For arguments sake, Eriksen had 4 or 5 chances due to the space being created, I'd say Sissoko was the direct cause of equally as many attacks breaking down, so in the end his contribution is very little.

 

[fortworthspur]

it was a good effort today but to my eye he just isnt very good. the free header today, the weak lay-off to Eriksen etc. He just doesnt seem to be able to execute when its needed.

he's a good athlete and strong, but his technical ability is pretty limited.