Its a bit too late in his career to start coaching some basic football skills into him. None of his passing, shooting or control are at the level needed
Well, those skills have been deemed to be at a level good enough for the French national team (and yeah, I know we can all name players who have inexplicably had call ups to their national team). But the French national team has been at a decent level the past few years, so there must be
something there.
I agree that his control is suspect to say the least. I also remember lots of comments about Son's lack of control on his first touch the season before last, yet he improved enormously. (Age/Experience level differences accepted). Sissok's shooting has been sporadic. He has both come close to scoring and he has fluffed chances. There
may be a confidence thing going on there.
His passing has been OK.
Has he ever started a PL game? I can't remember. He has put in decent, if not mind blowing, performances - Burnley, Emirates Marketing Project last year spring to mind. It seems he is always the sub that is expected to turn things around. Maybe if he had more time to grow into a game it would make a difference. I am not making excuses for him - I am not convinced he is going to step up enough. But Poch seems to trust him, so I have to look at why that might be. (Because I generally trust Poch).
He is one of the few options we have right now to move the ball forward with power and pace. Dembele does it sometimes, but generally peters out around the edge of the box, frustratingly. Winks might do it, but isn't quite there yet. Walker did it (irrelevant now) and Rose (let's see how that pans out) Is not a current option. N'Koudou is not ready. Any new signing will need time to bed in.
I wouldn't be upset at all to see Sissoko leave, but equally Poch seems to have faith him, off the bench at least, so I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed.
I thought he looked decent yesterday in a short cameo. He's had the full pre season, so perhaps we will see a more effective Sissoko this year, if he is given the opportunity - and the support.