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Moussa Sissoko

It’s great competition and I’m sure he’s definitely moved ahead of Wanyama who in all likelihood will be moved on. He’s gone from last choice backup to genuine first XI challenger. In fact right now I’d say it’s his shirt to lose....

Yeah it’s between him and Dier to partner Winks. He’s improved beyond all recognition this season and much more than I thought he ever would.

There’s a but coming...

But, he’s still not good enough to start in a team challenging for the big prizes in my view. Nayim got a lot of stick on this thread for expressing what I think is a very reasonable point of view.

That miss against Liverpool crystallised my point I believe. He just has to score or at the very least hit the target. However he did what I’d always expect him to do. That was the difference between 3 points and none.

I’m not just basing my view of him on one incident. There are several similar instances of him doing similar, if not so quite high profile, things.

A very good squad player for where we want to be. Nothing more.
 
Yeah it’s between him and Dier to partner Winks. He’s improved beyond all recognition this season and much more than I thought he ever would.

There’s a but coming...

But, he’s still not good enough to start in a team challenging for the big prizes in my view. Nayim got a lot of stick on this thread for expressing what I think is a very reasonable point of view.

That miss against Liverpool crystallised my point I believe. He just has to score or at the very least hit the target. However he did what I’d always expect him to do. That was the difference between 3 points and none.

I’m not just basing my view of him on one incident. There are several similar instances of him doing similar, if not so quite high profile, things.

A very good squad player for where we want to be. Nothing more.

I agree he is a squad player in an ideal situation.

I disagree re the scoring .. it's just BS, don't see people bitching about Rose passing (not even taking on the responsibility of the shot) yesterday when he had most of the goal to go for.

It's not his job, it would be a bonus, but to take the tinkle out of him for it is just wrong ..
 
I agree he is a squad player in an ideal situation.

I disagree re the scoring .. it's just BS, don't see people bitching about Rose passing (not even taking on the responsibility of the shot) yesterday when he had most of the goal to go for.

It's not his job, it would be a bonus, but to take the tinkle out of him for it is just wrong ..

I don’t believe you’re referring to me on the taking the tinkle bit because I think some of the abuse afterwards was disgraceful.

I can’t see how you can say he shouldn’t score though. He’s effectively one on one and if you see the angle from behind, the goalkeeper has left a decent space to his right so Sissoko doesn’t even have to go across himself where van Dijk is coming at him from. It’s a terrible finish and I’d expect any professional footballer to at least hit the target. I’d expect someone in our team to bury it.
 
Yeah it’s between him and Dier to partner Winks. He’s improved beyond all recognition this season and much more than I thought he ever would.

There’s a but coming...

But, he’s still not good enough to start in a team challenging for the big prizes in my view. Nayim got a lot of stick on this thread for expressing what I think is a very reasonable point of view.

That miss against Liverpool crystallised my point I believe. He just has to score or at the very least hit the target. However he did what I’d always expect him to do. That was the difference between 3 points and none.

I’m not just basing my view of him on one incident. There are several similar instances of him doing similar, if not so quite high profile, things.

A very good squad player for where we want to be. Nothing more.
I agree Nayim's view is fair enough, he certainly doesnt have to rate him as much as anyone else. But I dont agree with what you're saying, his shooting is largely irrelevant. How many defensive midfielders do you know who are good finishers? Its almost the fact that hes so athletic and gets up and down the pitch like practically noone else in the league that it counts against him - its not his job to finish. He's constantly going on lung busting runs and is probably knackered by the time he gets there anyway:D....
 
Yeah it’s between him and Dier to partner Winks. He’s improved beyond all recognition this season and much more than I thought he ever would.

There’s a but coming...

But, he’s still not good enough to start in a team challenging for the big prizes in my view. Nayim got a lot of stick on this thread for expressing what I think is a very reasonable point of view.

That miss against Liverpool crystallised my point I believe. He just has to score or at the very least hit the target. However he did what I’d always expect him to do. That was the difference between 3 points and none.

I’m not just basing my view of him on one incident. There are several similar instances of him doing similar, if not so quite high profile, things.

A very good squad player for where we want to be. Nothing more.

I think some people are really struggling to understand how many goals he's in credit for us. And by that I mean he stops so many attacks which could result in a goal, that many other players wouldn't. Give me that in exchange for a miss any day.

I wouldn't mind betting he is one of the first names on the team sheet nowadays - A managers dream.

When you look at how many big signings have come in to the prem in CM and struggled (Bakayoko, Keita etc) you really are gonna have to go all out to sign an improvement on him.

It's also not just his combative play, his all round play has really improved, there were some lovely first time lay offs last night and he does transition to a more dangerous player quickly when its on.
 
I agree Nayim's view is fair enough, he certainly doesnt have to rate him as much as anyone else. But I dont agree with what you're saying, his shooting is largely irrelevant. How many defensive midfielders do you know who are good finishers? Its almost the fact that hes so athletic and gets up and down the pitch like practically noone else in the league that it counts against him - its not his job to finish. He's constantly going on lung busting runs and is probably knackered by the time he gets there anyway:D....

Haha fair enough mate. I’ll agree to disagree with you and Raziel. I see the point you’re making.
 
I agree he is a squad player in an ideal situation.

I disagree re the scoring .. it's just BS, don't see people bitching about Rose passing (not even taking on the responsibility of the shot) yesterday when he had most of the goal to go for.

It's not his job, it would be a bonus, but to take the tinkle out of him for it is just wrong ..

Our conversion rate this season is diabolical, I was thinking about that chance a lot on Sunday and I went through the team thinking who would have scored from there?

My opinion is that I wouldn't trust anyone with that chance 100% of the time, Alli probably puts it away 7 times out of 10, Kane and Son 6, then its 6-5 and pick em for everyone else.

It was a chance with an xG of around 0.5. We didn't lose the game because Sissoko didn't take it.
 
Our conversion rate this season is diabolical, I was thinking about that chance a lot on Sunday and I went through the team thinking who would have scored from there?

My opinion is that I wouldn't trust anyone with that chance 400% of the time, Alli probably puts it away 7 times out of 10, Kane and Son 6, then its 6-5 and pick em for everyone else.

It was a chance with an xG of around 0.5. We didn't lose the game because Sissoko didn't take it.

Kane puts that away more than 6 out of 10 times. And I’d trust him to do it under pressure. And he would work the keeper at the very least which opens up the possibility of a rebound dropping to Son.

We didn’t lose the game because of Sissoko. We lost it because Lloris made a bad mistake. But we didn’t win the game because of Sissoko. He scores that and we win in my view. Those are the fine margins people talk about between winners and nearly men. It’s harsh but it’s reality.
 
Kane puts that away more than 6 out of 10 times. And I’d trust him to do it under pressure.

We didn’t lose the game because of Sissoko. We lost it because Lloris made a bad mistake. But we didn’t win the game because of Sissoko. He scores that and we win in my view. Those are the fine margins people talk about between winners and nearly men. It’s harsh but it’s reality.
Kane actually misses a hell of a lot of chances (and a lot of them pretty simple ones), his great strength is that he is mentally strong and wont go hiding when the next one comes along. As for the Liverpool game, it wasn't Sissoko's fault we didnt win the game that wasnt the only good chance and to be quite frank if we are relying on Sissoko to win us a game with a goal then there is something wrong.....
 
Kane actually misses a hell of a lot of chances (and a lot of them pretty simple ones), his great strength is that he is mentally strong and wont go hiding when the next one comes along. As for the Liverpool game, it wasn't Sissoko's fault we didnt win the game that wasnt the only good chance and to be quite frank if we are relying on Sissoko to win us a game with a goal then there is something wrong.....

And for all those saying he should have done better, worked the keeper etc, Harry was through on last night and missed the target. It happens to the best of them, players aren't perfect.
 
also, in other news that will surprise nobody, whilst googling around to try and get an accurate xG rating of the Sissoko chance I found multiple articles suggesting that van Dyke performed the greatest defending off all time to stop a certain Sissoko goal

just have a read of this, careful you don't toss your breakfast though,

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/proof-virgil-van-dijk-made-16059962
Great defending. Made possible by Sissoko not forcing him to commit to a decision earlier. Difficult for a fairly one footed right footed player, so not a harsh criticism on Sissoko. Had it been on the right side it would have been easier.

If Sissoko's role is to be what it's been recently, primarily a defensive job. Stopping counter attacks, covering for full backs, defending well when organized, his weaknesses in more attacking situations are less of an issue. Kante shows similar weaknesses being used box to box by Chelsea, but not a real issue as a more pure DM. I hope Sissoko keeps playing that role.
 
also, in other news that will surprise nobody, whilst googling around to try and get an accurate xG rating of the Sissoko chance I found multiple articles suggesting that van Dyke performed the greatest defending off all time to stop a certain Sissoko goal

just have a read of this, careful you don't toss your breakfast though,

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/proof-virgil-van-dijk-made-16059962
To be fair...
“I was talking with Daniel after Sunday’s Liverpool game about the very good action of [Virgil] Van Dijk [when the defender dealt with a two‑on-one Spurs break],” Pochettino said.
 
He was everywhere last night his stamina is up there with Lamela and Perryman for me, he never shirks from wanting the ball and covers for others all the time. My MOM.
He regularly plays RB, DM, and AM in the same game, and breaks the press. Also last man back at corners. If only he could compose himself when shooting.
 
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