Moussa Sissoko

[90291Spur]

That sitter? How hard Davies hit that shot all he could do was stick out a leg and hope which was what he did. Even the commentary didn't make a big deal of it being missed, but how predictable someone wants to make something of it on here.....

I think Kane and Son and perhaps Dele would have scored that. Obviously conjecture, but Sissoko, upon reflection, is not very good.

 

[harr1984]

I think Kane and Son and perhaps Dele would have scored that. Obviously conjecture, but Sissoko, upon reflection, is not very good.

Maybe they would have, who knows. Does that make it a sitter? I’ve seen plenty of players try and redirect a shot from close range and miss...

 

[harr1984]

Little bit odd that here and other Spurs discussion forums, Sissoko is copping most of the flak for what was a pretty poor performance team wise. The idea that he looks like he’s never played before is just nonsense, shouldn’t need to be said but he completed a bunch of passes to team mates, he set up our best chance and got into good positions. I’m not saying he was especially good but Dier, Dele, Son, were all worse. Dembele didn’t have any more impact than Sissoko did. Once again, Dier gave the ball away in such a dangerous area that Southampton almost had a clear run on goal. Dier does this repeatedly, and its the kind of thing if Sissoko did it, he would get slaughtered. But Sissoko actually never does it.

I see this argument that because Dele or Dier have had great games before, that they get excused their poor ones. It doesn’t really make sense to me. No one is saying we need to sell them just because they’ve had a bad game, so there’s no need to excuse them. We still love them. But that doesn’t mean we can’t objectively say they were bad in a given game. And Sissoko objectively was not the worst Spurs player on the pitch, but for some reason on this site and others he is once again taking a disproportionate amount of the flack.

Agree, unfortunately it’s Jermain Jenas all over again and nothing will change no matter what he does. Dier has been poor for a while, I shudder to think how Sissoko would get treated if he did some of the things Dier does....

 

[the dza]

He played better today towards the end of the game, when he forgot the more 'safety-first' approach and tried to be a bit more direct. Unlucky not to get an assist, Lamela should have swung his right-foot at that one.

 

[awesome dawson]

Maybe they would have, who knows. Does that make it a sitter? I’ve seen plenty of players try and redirect a shot from close range and miss...

You've obviously got some strange blind affection for him but it frankly baffles me how he gets into our starting eleven ahead of Lamela. He was utter dog sh!t today and is most games. For a premier league footballer that was a sitter but it's his complete inability to be composed on the ball that annoys me. It's been going on all season in all types of condition. Today is was hard for even our best players but for Sissoko he might as well have been playing on ice.

 

[harr1984]

You've obviously got some strange blind affection for him but it frankly baffles me how he gets into our starting eleven ahead of Lamela. He was utter dog sh!t today and is most games. For a premier league footballer that was a sitter but it's his complete inability to be composed on the ball that annoys me. It's been going on all season in all types of condition. Today is was hard for even our best players but for Sissoko he might as well have been playing on ice.

Er no, he was poor. Was he worse than most others on the pitch? Nope. And I replied to someone saying he missed a sitter,which he didn’t....

 

[Baleforce]

the only one who missed a sitter was Kane, and it only counts as a sitter because it fell to him

 

[billyiddo]

Sissoko chance wasn't a sitter by any stretch of the imagination

 

[Cochise]

The thing with Alli and Son is that they can be quiet for a game yet still have a positive effect on the game.

Sissoko doesn't. With Eriksen missing we needed a creative player in there, yet we got Sissoko.

 

[StephenH]

We all know the guys shortcomings, but until he moves on we are stuck with him being used as a "utility" Spurs player. There is little point continually regurgitating the same moans and groans.

 

[Gutter Boy]

The best player in the world at creating nothing from something

 

[Robbo]

He isn’t as horrible as some make him out to be, but I can't see why he starts as many games as he does in front of IMVHO superior players. Also, why is he rarely subbed when he's playing poorly? A poor Son surely is a better option than a poor Sissoko if you wanna grab the winner.

I don’t get it. Then again, I'm pretty far off being a professional coach.

 

[90291Spur]

Maybe they would have, who knows. Does that make it a sitter? I’ve seen plenty of players try and redirect a shot from close range and miss...

Not a sitter, but the type of chance that a good enough player (i.e. not Sissoko) would perhaps score.

 

[Spur of the moment]

I very rarely rant at any Spurs player, my instinct is usually to show patience and support anyone that pulls on the Tottenham shirt.

But week in week out Sissoko is testing my patience and loyalty to the limit. I'm just fed up waiting for him to do something different, something a bit special, something that shows us what on earth it was that made us go out and pay £30m for him.

Either Poch sees something in him no one else does or he is trying to make a point to Levy about buying him a player he never wanted in the first place.

 

[90291Spur]

Agree, unfortunately it’s Jermain Jenas all over again and nothing will change no matter what he does. Dier has been poor for a while, I shudder to think how Sissoko would get treated if he did some of the things Dier does....

Unfortunately for this argument Dier is a player who has put in some massive performances for us, cost a fraction what Sissoko did. If Sissoko has scored on his debut, been as versatile as Dier and contributed as much as Dier he might be getting treated like Dier.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

The thing with Alli and Son is that they can be quiet for a game yet still have a positive effect on the game.

Sissoko doesn't. With Eriksen missing we needed a creative player in there, yet we got Sissoko.

I think he was playing because Southampton are actually pretty decent against the top sides and Poch wanted to make sure we were solid. Sissoko most of the time is excellent defensively and that’s what we get from him - he is always thinking about the danger, always making sure he and others are positioned well, always there when the opposition could look dangerous to slow them down.

He isn’t the best technical player, we all know that. But we get defensive solidity from him, and Saints have been good against the top sides so arguably we needed to make sure we’d be ok. Even still, he set up our best chance. We got nothing from Son today and barely anything from Dele. Just because they are creative types it doesn’t mean we will always get something from them.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Unfortunately for this argument Dier is a player who has put in some massive performances for us, cost a fraction what Sissoko did. If Sissoko has scored on his debut, been as versatile as Dier and contributed as much as Dier he might be getting treated like Dier.

No one is saying Dier isn’t a really valuable player for us, but it’s clear Sissoko is taking a disproportionate amount of the flack for some dropped points. Why can’t we objectively say Dier was poor on a given game?

There is a post above stating growing frustration because Sissoko never does anything different. But that’s kind of the key - don’t expect a world beating £30M player, because he isn’t worth that much and it was a poor buy. But if you look at what he brings, physicality, great tactical awareness on the defensive side, consistently always available and someone that keeps us solid, you’ll appreciate him a lot more. We had to change our expectations of what we get out of him to get some value, but that is what we are getting. He’s a solid hand in the squad.

Judge him like that, rather than a failed 30M purchase. Because that was last season, and the price isn’t his fault. He is our player and does not deserve to always be made the spacegoat when others are worse. Yes, Dier has had some great games. So has Dele. But Sissoko is also doing his job, and he is our player. There is no sense to constantly spacegoating him.

 

[scaramanga]

I think he was playing because Southampton are actually pretty decent against the top sides and Poch wanted to make sure we were solid. Sissoko most of the time is excellent defensively and that’s what we get from him - he is always thinking about the danger, always making sure he and others are positioned well, always there when the opposition could look dangerous to slow them down.

He isn’t the best technical player, we all know that. But we get defensive solidity from him, and Saints have been good against the top sides so arguably we needed to make sure we’d be ok. Even still, he set up our best chance. We got nothing from Son today and barely anything from Dele. Just because they are creative types it doesn’t mean we will always get something from them.

Not the case this match.

Every time they had the ball on our left he got sucked in too far so when they switched he was too central.

When they attacked down the right (apart from a 20 mins spell in the 2nd half) he was nowhere to be seen.

He contributed to a couple of great chances for them by giving it away early on in the match and did nothing going forwards that any other person with two working legs and a mild learning difficulty or better couldn't have done.

 

[Bullet]

Sissoko objectively was not the worst Spurs player on the pitch.

Son, Alli and Sissoko all did nothing or less than nothing (i.e. gave the ball away or failed, more than they contributed).
Dembele, Dier and Aurier fought and chased and tackled and won the ball and pushed and won myriad challenges.

Sissoko did not help Aurier out enough - all of their attacks were focussed on that side.
And as usual, Sissoko does not contribute to passing moves properly, nor attacks, because he has the ball skills of Ramon Vega.

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Not the case this match.

Every time they had the ball on our left he got sucked in too far so when they switched he was too central.

When they attacked down the right (apart from a 20 mins spell in the 2nd half) he was nowhere to be seen.

He contributed to a couple of great chances for them by giving it away early on in the match and did nothing going forwards that any other person with two working legs and a mild learning difficulty or better couldn't have done.

Still, deserved of taking pretty much the literal brunt of everyone’s criticism when there were worse Spurs players today?