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Moussa Sissoko

For a player who were brilliant for France in Euro2016, it is puzzling how Sissoko can't even pass or score goals for us. He works hard but lacks the finishing. With World Cup 2018 coming, let's hope he will step up his game in the coming months to make the France squad for the World Cup.
 
The real problem with Sissoko isn't about Sissoko's ability on the ball or his performance.
It's how he effects the rest of the team.

Last season Poch learned Sissoko can't playing on the right side of the 3 in a 4231, as one of the 2 in midfield in a 4231 or 343 or on the right of the 3 in a 343.
Those were our two formations last season. Both worked and they suited the rest of the squad.

This season Poch has created a position for Sissoko. Its the same position he looked good for France in.
The right of a central midfield 3, a few yards further up the pitch than the central anchor player in the midfield 3, with freedom to run forward.
Most of these games he has played on the right of a midfield diamond. Winks or Dier as the central anchor poisition, Eriksen on the left of the diamond and Alli at the tip of the diamond.

This is all well and good for Sissoko but the formation doesn't work for the rest of the team.

In the 433 tonight against Brighton at home, Kane looked isolated. In our 343 Kane has Eriksen and Alli right close behind him on the pitch. Its the formation in which Alli started scoring goal after goal and Eriksen looked like a superstar in the second half of last season. But with the 433 Eriksen is stuck from a starting position of the left hand side of central midfield. Tonight Son was wide left and Lamela right. No one was behind Kane.

Lamela and Son were too far apart to really interchange positions in the same way the 3 behind in the striker do in our 4231. They both come inside but that was it. There was no fluidity when they both have starting positions on the opposite side of the pitch.

We look so much better playing 4231 or 343 than the new 433 or even the 3 at the back diamond in midfield formation we were playing with before our injuries.

So why do we play these formations just to fit Sissoko into the team. We were much better at the weekend when we started with a 4231 without him.
 
Woeful again.

Killer of moves, and when he does somehow find himself in a dangerous position with the ball coming to him he either miscontrolled it or made the wrong option.

The personal highlight was him getting out muscled by the powerhouse that is Solly March
 
Modric THFC said:
The real problem with Sissoko isn't about Sissoko's ability on the ball or his performance.
It's how he effects the rest of the team.

Last season Poch learned Sissoko can't playing on the right side of the 3 in a 4231, as one of the 2 in midfield in a 4231 or 343 or on the right of the 3 in a 343.
Those were our two formations last season. Both worked and they suited the rest of the squad.

This season Poch has created a position for Sissoko. Its the same position he looked good for France in.
The right of a central midfield 3, a few yards further up the pitch than the central anchor player in the midfield 3, with freedom to run forward.
Most of these games he has played on the right of a midfield diamond. Winks or Dier as the central anchor poisition, Eriksen on the left of the diamond and Alli at the tip of the diamond.

This is all well and good for Sissoko but the formation doesn't work for the rest of the team.

In the 433 tonight against Brighton at home, Kane looked isolated. In our 343 Kane has Eriksen and Alli right close behind him on the pitch. Its the formation in which Alli started scoring goal after goal and Eriksen looked like a superstar in the second half of last season. But with the 433 Eriksen is stuck from a starting position of the left hand side of central midfield. Tonight Son was wide left and Lamela right. No one was behind Kane.

Lamela and Son were too far apart to really interchange positions in the same way the 3 behind in the striker do in our 4231. They both come inside but that was it. There was no fluidity when they both have starting positions on the opposite side of the pitch.

We look so much better playing 4231 or 343 than the new 433 or even the 3 at the back diamond in midfield formation we were playing with before our injuries.

So why do we play these formations just to fit Sissoko into the team. We were much better at the weekend when we started with a 4231 without him.
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Ehhhhhhhhhhh I really don't think we were as rigid as you are suggesting...I regularly saw Son and Lamela swapping positions, coming central, going to the other flank, and I saw both of them and Eriksen in behind Kane on pretty much every attack. Sissoko largely stuck to the center right position.

Ultimately Brighton showed no ambition whatsoever, even after they went a goal down, and decided to pack the midfield. Of course Kane was going to look isolated. Of course space was going to be at a premium. Of course we were going to have to be patient. But I do think it's a bit of a stretch to claim that the whole team was poor because we are trying to fit Sissoko in to it.
 
BrainOfLevy said:
Ehhhhhhhhhhh I really don't think we were as rigid as you are suggesting...I regularly saw Son and Lamela swapping positions, coming central, going to the other flank, and I saw both of them and Eriksen in behind Kane on pretty much every attack. Sissoko largely stuck to the center right position.

Ultimately Brighton showed no ambition whatsoever, even after they went a goal down, and decided to pack the midfield. Of course Kane was going to look isolated. Of course space was going to be at a premium. Of course we were going to have to be patient. But I do think it's a bit of a stretch to claim that the whole team was poor because we are trying to fit Sissoko in to it.
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I do wonder if he could be converted to a deep-lying centre-mid?
His ability on the ball isn't good enough to play higher up but I've watched him pretty closely and he seems to have good physical strength and can win the ball back and his tactical awareness is pretty sharp too. The number of times he stops an attack because he's dropped in for his full back or closed off space between centre-half and full-back tells me he's good at seeing the game. His ability on the ball is pretty limited so simply winning it and giving it to someone might be the best we can get out of him.
This formation with him on the right of a midfield diamond is OK for him but I think as @Modric THFC says, it does seem to be slightly to the detriment of the others. It all depends on the individual games though - teams with 10 behind the ball are just difficult to break down full stop. We played this diamond at Everton and walked it.

I think he's a reasonable player, perhaps his lack of confidence means we'll never get to see his best ability further forwards but there's definitely a decent player in there that we need to get working. I think he's been fine this season and although very poor overall last year I seem to remember a decent spell over the December games where he ended up with a couple of assists - Burnley at home and the through-ball to Alli at Southampton away which resulted in them going down to 10 men.
 
I think you can see in a couple of things - his video on the OS with Aurier's interview, but also how he calmed Winks down last night when he wanted to waste time squaring up to a Brighton player - that he actually performs a pretty important role in this squad and is clearly respected. I think he's viewed as a good professional by the coaching staff - someone that carries out instructions, keeps the team on track, and keeps the team settled. Rarely loses a 1v1, and fills a role. He obviously isn't the most technically gifted player and never will be, but as I keep saying, expecting him to be considering what he is will just be pointless. He has a role, he's doing well with it, and that's ok.
 
BrainOfLevy said:
I think you can see in a couple of things - his video on the OS with Aurier's interview, but also how he calmed Winks down last night when he wanted to waste time squaring up to a Brighton player - that he actually performs a pretty important role in this squad and is clearly respected. I think he's viewed as a good professional by the coaching staff - someone that carries out instructions, keeps the team on track, and keeps the team settled. Rarely loses a 1v1, and fills a role. He obviously isn't the most technically gifted player and never will be, but as I keep saying, expecting him to be considering what he is will just be pointless. He has a role, he's doing well with it, and that's ok.
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A good summary, we all see how Poch ruthlessly gets rid of players who dont perform has he wants to. Some suggest he only gets games because of injuries, well we're always going to have injuries thats the nature of the beast and to have someone who we can rely on to pretty much always be fit and physically in great condition is a positive. Noones' suggesting hes in our best XI but he has a role to fill and has done it suitably so far this season.....
 
I think thats about the only thing where he could be genuinely good. Marshalling in front of the defence, winning the ball, playing it off simply.

And even then, I dont think he will ever be as good as Dier or Wanyama in the role.

Which is basically Sissoko in a nutshell at Spurs, isnt it?
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
I think thats about the only thing where he could be genuinely good. Marshalling in front of the defence, winning the ball, playing it off simply.

And even then, I dont think he will ever be as good as Dier or Wanyama in the role.

Which is basically Sissoko in a nutshell at Spurs, isnt it?
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We're never going to get the value we thought we were going to get for him by paying £30M, but we're making the best of it. The price-tag isn't his fault, and someone thought it would be a good idea to play him on the right of a 4-2-3-1 in a team that dominates possession when he's only shined previously in a role where his team counter-attacks.

When he has played anywhere else, he's generally done ok to good. Never absolutely amazing, but this season, never really terrible either like last year.
 
I havent mentioned his price tag. As you mention it, I think we over paid, but I tend not to concern myself too much with the finances.

Fundamentally I believe Sissoko is just not a very good footballer, and is badly exposed when surrounded by players who are all undoubtedly better than him.

I agree with you, we should have seen that when buying him and that in and of itself is not his fault. He was never what we needed, and clearly what he is and what we thought we bought are not even close to being the same thing.

I cant agree he has been "ok to good" all season. Nor that he hasnt been terrible - he has.

I am sure he is doing his best, in fact I dont doubt it - just as I am now sure his best simply isnt good enough.

Id rate him so far as "poor" to "acceptable". And thats about it.

Very simply, he isnt good enough for us. As I said, even at his best in the position best suited to him, we have better players.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
I havent mentioned his price tag. As you mention it, I think we over paid, but I tend not to concern myself too much with the finances.

Fundamentally I believe Sissoko is just not a very good footballer, and is badly exposed when surrounded by players who are all undoubtedly better than him.

I agree with you, we should have seen that when buying him and that in and of itself is not his fault. He was never what we needed, and clearly what he is and what we thought we bought are not even close to being the same thing.

I cant agree he has been "ok to good" all season. Nor that he hasnt been terrible - he has.

I am sure he is doing his best, in fact I dont doubt it - just as I am now sure his best simply isnt good enough.

Id rate him so far as "poor" to "acceptable". And thats about it.

Very simply, he isnt good enough for us. As I said, even at his best in the position best suited to him, we have better players.
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It was an interesting contrast between the Brighton and Spurs teams when assessing the players ability to immediately bring the ball in control and find players with a pass.

The Brighton players were very poor at immediately controlling the ball and I lost count of the number of times they passed the ball straight out of play. With only one exception, all of the Spurs players are comfortable at bringing the ball under control and finding a colleague with a pass. Alright sometimes it does not work but in 80%+ occasions it does. The one exception of course is Sissoko who would look a good player in the Brighton team but is a very poor player in the Spurs side.
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
I think thats about the only thing where he could be genuinely good. Marshalling in front of the defence, winning the ball, playing it off simply.
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ABSOLUTELY NO WAY!! The guys first touch is abominable! We play out of defence and use our midfield man (currently Winks or Dembele) to transition the ball to the front 3 or 4. Sissoko is a nightmare when put under pressure and can't shield the ball effectively. We would have so many teams target him to rob it back in our own third. It's frustrating enough watching it happen out on the wings at times.

Horrendous idea that i can only describe as football suicide.
 
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