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Moussa Sissoko

No one had a problem with criticising him when he was playing poorly. It was calling him out as a 3/10 performer when he really wasn't, and people could see objectively that he wasn't as bad as the mob were making out.

No doubt when he started last year with us he was utterly terrible. But he then got a few good games in around Christmas (I'm thinking Burnley, Hull at home, Swansea when he came on) but then he couldn't get back in the side as the team hit ridiculous form in the new year.

This year, he's been pretty damn good. Culminating in last night. It is incredibly harsh to say he isn't Spurs standard after a result like last night when he fully played his part. Yes, he is a physical player. Yes, we played deeper last night. But part of our evolution, and why we've been able to get better results against teams we would usually struggle against is because we've decided to sit deeper and in Toby's words 'play like adults, not children', and when we do this, Sissoko is very well placed to play a seriously important role. That zone, a bit deeper, just right of centre that he was in last night was perfect for him. It's much better than expecting him to be Aaron Lennon pinned to the right wing, and it completely gets the best out of him.
In those vanishingly few matches per season where we have that space and if he's at the top of his game, then he doesn't stand out like the sore thumb he usually does.

On his really good days he's a "meh" performance in modern Spurs terms. Just look at the competition for his place. If he's playing in the middle then there's Dembele, Dier, Winks and Wanyama (sometimes Eriksen with the right opponent) who are all well above him in the pecking order - their average days are significantly better than Sissoko's good ones.

If he's playing further forward then it's the same story. Alli, Eriksen, Lamela, Son - they all outperform him on their off days.
 
I like to think I'm a fair judge.

Sissoko has gone from 3/10 to 5/10 to 7/10 which is great to see.

Some of you are so eager to back every player that you started the bar too high and thought he was 5/10 then 7/10 and are now claiming 9/10 which is too much IMO.


Last night he played his best game for us which was very interesting because Eriksen shrank back into his shell and was worse than usual... something about mentality and the big stage.

Note if we were playing 5-3-2 with a midfield 3 of Eriksen Winks Sissoko... Winks was left to fend for himself as Sissoko played right wing a lot.

I would go along with that.

Also I would add that Leicester had far worse players in their team that won the league and Moses at Chelsea is probably a similar level to Sissoko skill wise. If everyone was fit I would not have him starting but in certain games he is a great option and someone good to come on from the bench and that means a lot to a team, so I do not mind him. Also seems to have a great attitude.
 
I would go along with that.

Also I would add that Leicester had far worse players in their team that won the league and Moses at Chelsea is probably a similar level to Sissoko skill wise. If everyone was fit I would not have him starting but in certain games he is a great option and someone good to come on from the bench and that means a lot to a team, so I do not mind him. Also seems to have a great attitude.
Yeah I would agree with most of that. However I would say that Moses has far better ball control (of the football that is) than Sissoko does.
 
I like to think I'm a fair judge.

Sissoko has gone from 3/10 to 5/10 to 7/10 which is great to see.

Some of you are so eager to back every player that you started the bar too high and thought he was 5/10 then 7/10 and are now claiming 9/10 which is too much IMO.


Last night he played his best game for us which was very interesting because Eriksen shrank back into his shell and was worse than usual... something about mentality and the big stage.

Note if we were playing 5-3-2 with a midfield 3 of Eriksen Winks Sissoko... Winks was left to fend for himself as Sissoko played right wing a lot.
I don't know where you've got those ratings from. From my view it was a case of some people writing (slagging) him off completely, and others saying we should support him and give him confidence to see if he can be of benefit to the squad.
 
And talking of Eriksen having a crap game, have we discounted Madrid targeting him as our main threat, so that players like Sissoko had more space to play?
Well it wasnt like Madrid surrounded him constantly, Modric was on him a lot but considering their comparative positions that was to be expected. Eriksen had poor touches when under little to no pressure. He just had a bad game.....
 
And talking of Eriksen having a crap game, have we discounted Madrid targeting him as our main threat, so that players like Sissoko had more space to play?
Yep ive discounted that purely on the basis that Madrid can never be bothered to think about what the other team might do, it's all about them and their imagined superiority........and if that aint working they'll get the ref on board.
 
And talking of Eriksen having a crap game, have we discounted Madrid targeting him as our main threat, so that players like Sissoko had more space to play?

The space filled by Kroos and Marcelo you mean? Sissoko was generally up against 2 players when he got the ball and it was only in the latter stages when Kroos got forward more and we broke quickly that he only had Marcelo against him.
 
The space filled by Kroos and Marcelo you mean? Sissoko was generally up against 2 players when he got the ball and it was only in the latter stages when Kroos got forward more and we broke quickly that he only had Marcelo against him.
Exactly. It really is condescending to suggest Sissoko needs half a pitch to run into otherwise he cant or doesnt do anything. Ive seen him get out of some tight situations, he isnt the prettiest but his ball control really isnt that bad....
 
Exactly. It really is condescending to suggest Sissoko needs half a pitch to run into otherwise he cant or doesnt do anything. Ive seen him get out of some tight situations, he isnt the prettiest but his ball control really isnt that bad....
And in my opinion he played his best game for us by far against Madrid. A massive match where his contribution was significant.
 
I think he was poor yesterday. He almost always lost the ball when he tried to take the ball forward. He once tripped up himself after stepping on the ball while he's running - a bizarre moment for a professional footballer, or anyone that tries to play football. I don't often see him plays but I am getting why his basic skills is often questioned. And yes, it appeared the team avoided passing to him especially in forward position. It just didn't work out for him yesterday.
 
I think he was poor yesterday. He almost always lost the ball when he tried to take the ball forward. He once tripped up himself after stepping on the ball while he's running - a bizarre moment for a professional footballer, or anyone that tries to play football. I don't often see him plays but I am getting why his basic skills is often questioned. And yes, it appeared the team avoided passing to him especially in forward position. It just didn't work out for him yesterday.

Do you think he Poch should have subbed him at half-time?
 
I think he was poor yesterday. He almost always lost the ball when he tried to take the ball forward. He once tripped up himself after stepping on the ball while he's running - a bizarre moment for a professional footballer, or anyone that tries to play football. I don't often see him plays but I am getting why his basic skills is often questioned. And yes, it appeared the team avoided passing to him especially in forward position. It just didn't work out for him yesterday.
So you've signed up to the site with the intention of this being your first and only post so far? Not to celebrate a great victory, but just to criticise a 20 minute sub? You've summed up why so many want to stick up for the guy. And the bolded bit - WALOB.....
 
Do you think he Poch should have subbed him at half-time?

So you've signed up to the site with the intention of this being your first and only post so far? Not to celebrate a great victory, but just to criticise a 20 minute sub? You've summed up why so many want to stick up for the guy. And the bolded bit - WALOB.....
It's a Sissoko bot deployed by @scaramanga, seeing as his cohorts have defected to the other side!
 
So you've signed up to the site with the intention of this being your first and only post so far? Not to celebrate a great victory, but just to criticise a 20 minute sub? You've summed up why so many want to stick up for the guy. And the bolded bit - WALOB.....
I was told I deserve a medal for this.
 
Sissoko treading on the ball was quintessential Sissoko-esque. I cannot think of any other way to perfectly summarize his technique.

Hopefully he will continue to build confidence and show more progress.
 
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