Gazza
Frederic Kanoute
He's shown nothing at Saudi Sportswashing Machine or
Spurs other than occasional moments to suggest other than the popular view on him.
I think you may want to read that again ...
He's shown nothing at Saudi Sportswashing Machine or
Spurs other than occasional moments to suggest other than the popular view on him.
I think you misunderstand me. I think he can go to be one of the greatest brick players in Spain too.He's shown nothing at Saudi Sportswashing Machine or
Spurs other than occasional moments to suggest other than the popular view on him.
How much is that Moussa in the window?Man of the match. The mastermind behind at least three goals.
He's not a 22 year old playing his first season in England though.We might well end up selling him this summer, but that will be Poch's decision. If it were up to me, I'll come right out and say it - he stays. He stays, like Janssen and N'Koudou stay.
First seasons mean little. Judge him at this point next year, and it will be much fairer. Now? Pointless, and counter-productive.
He's not a 22 year old playing his first season in England though.
If Pochettino wants to keep him then fine. Just like I imagine you're fine with selling him if that's what Poch wants. But I really struggle to see why keeping him is a good idea.
We might well end up selling him this summer, but that will be Poch's decision. If it were up to me, I'll come right out and say it - he stays. He stays, like Janssen and N'Koudou stay.
First seasons mean little. Judge him at this point next year, and it will be much fairer. Now? Pointless, and counter-productive.
Age and experience surely says something about the likelihood of a player doing better in the future?I don't care if he's a wide-eyed 22 year old or a veteran pushing 35 joining us off the back of winning the CL and shagging Emily Ratajkowski at the open-top bus parade.
A player signs a contract to train, according to Poch. And he signs a contract for multiple years. If Poch thinks that player has trained hard enough to merit selection (and he's a notoriously hard taskmaster in that regard), then there is no questioning that player's work rate, respect for the club and his teammates, and willingness to be 'brave' (Poch's favorite word).
That's all I want from any signing or youth-teamer, and it's the same for both of them - age doesn't matter, application does. And if we get that, but don't get the performances that usually follow such dedication, then that's forgivable. Not forever, of course not - we're a professional sporting entity at the end of the day, and *some* level of performance is expected and demanded at a certain point. But forgivable to the extent of writing off the first year, if necessary.
Fairly arbitrary, but I'm sticking to it. I will not judge a player on his first year here, if he struggles - I said it when we signed Sissoko and Janssen (over my preferred alternatives), and I'm sticking to it. If Poch sells him, he sells him, and I completely trust the man to do what's best for the club in that respect - but if it were up to me, he stays.
Age and experience surely says something about the likelihood of a player doing better in the future?
Training hard is a necessary part. But it's only one of the necessary parts.
Or Poch started him because it makes him look like less of a flop going into the transfer market?Confidence does too. A young player low on confidence will not improve going into a new season unless he gets that confidence back - the same applies for a senior player, no matter how much more hardened he might be to criticism. If your confidence is gone, it's gone - building it back up is a similarly daunting challenge no matter how old you are, and no matter how much rigorous training you undertake. It might be harder for an older player to lose his confidence than it would be for a younger player, but the fact here is that Sissoko has looked hesitant and has played within himself to a large extent, which speaks of a loss of confidence in his situation.
Regardless of that fact, however, he's clearly worked hard enough in training to warrant Poch selecting him, and has gotten along with his teammates enough for them to be supportive of him during in-game moments (a few of my personal highlights of today were Dier and Wanyama wandering over to pat him on the back whenever he defended well - happened a few times as the game wore on). He's trying. Given our fairly comfortable situation in terms of our overall stability and status, I'm happy to give him a bit more time in light of that fact.
He did great for Sons second goal, nowhere to go on the touchline but manages to show strength and vision with the pass. Anyone else and there would have been plenty of mention in the match thread or individual player thread but as it's Sissoko let's not bother.....
Or Poch started him because it makes him look like less of a flop going into the transfer market?
Confidence is one factor and his confidence is probably low. But he's been poor most of the season, did he start out low on confidence.
For me the bottom line is that he just doesn't look a good fit in our system. He needs space to run into and good counter attacking situations to be effective. And he seems to struggle to fit into an effective pressing unit. This is not based just on one season, that's based on several seasons of PL football for Saudi Sportswashing Machine too.
There were people making all kinds of claims last summer about what he could do. He's failed to live up to that. Greg has seen more of him than any of us I'm guessing and correctly predicted many of the problems he's faced this season. And correctly identified the flaws with the expectations some had towards him.
There is a kind of sadness in his eyes. The look reminds me of the look of this guy: