Welcome Moussa Sissoko

[J.spurs]

I've been impressed every bit as much with his willingness and effort to track back and support as I am with his attacking work. I have a Newcastle friend who said he didn't see this kind of effort from Sissoko up there (that may be a bit harsh from a frustrated NUFC fan, I don't know). I agree with @Basskadet that he'll become more effective as he gets match fit.

Well, if we don't see that kind of effort at Spurs, he won't be on the pitch. I was very much skeptical about him at the price we paid, but he definitely adds directness and athleticism to the squad. Seems a bit of a blunt instrument at times, but hey, you can beat the shit out of someone with one of those.

 

[Basskadet]

Bit surprised at some of the flak Sissoko is getting after the Boro game. He clearly faded 2nd half, but I think that's understandable given he's played almost all of our last few fixtures and he had no pre-season and didn't kick a ball for the 1st few weeks of the season.

Also, in the 1st half I thought he had a pretty good game. He wasn't spectacular by any means, but some of the criticism i'm hearing is ridiculous. In the 1st 45 he was heavily involved in most of our good attacking play and seemed to have fitted in well with his teammates - switching flanks with Sonny effectively and so on.

I even heard 1 podcast suggest that Sissoko may have gone off because "he didn't fancy it". That has properly angered me because anyone who actually watched the foul in question could see Sissoko got fully clattered in the face and now has diagnosed concussion, which as we now know can be very serious. To suggest he was faking it because he wasn't up for it is just disgusting, I don't care if it is just "being thrown out there" or if it is a genuine opinion, it's crass in the extreme. Nobody is saying, or would say, that either Dier or Dembele went off v Sunderland because they "didn't fancy it" despite both coming off without being touched and then missing out next few games with "cramp". Concussion is considerably more serious than cramp, so people (especially those who have the honour and responsibility of a podcast shaped soapbox from which to bleat their opinions to the masses) need to have a bit more respect.

I think too many of our fans, for reasons beyond me, are paying far too much attention to Newcastle fans and allowing their opinions on Sissoko to be tainted. He wasn't that bad v Boro, certainly not "utter garbage for 70min" as 1 idiot said on a certain podcast (an idiot who, on the same podcast, also said that Dembele came thru our youth system, by the way!). He also did well coming on against Monaco, was pretty decent v Stoke and Sunderland too. For a guy who is obviously short of match fitness and has had very limited time in training to get to know his new teammates, I think he's done relatively well.

People also sound as though they're getting hung up on this £30m price tag. They needn't. Announcing £30m was just a way to appease Newcastle, but even they have admitted that so far just £6m has changed hands.

 

[J.spurs]

I was a little iffy on the deal to bring him to the club but to blame him for getting concussion is beyond ridiculous. Which podcast was it?

 

[Basskadet]

I was a little iffy on the deal to bring him to the club but to blame him for getting concussion is beyond ridiculous. Which podcast was it?

I think it should remain nameless .... *cough*Tottenham Hotspur Family*cough*

 

[boo]

Simply Not Good Enough: 3 Reasons Why Tottenham Should Sell This €23.6 Million Star This Summer

Perhaps one of the biggest shocks of the January transfer window was the deadline day dogfight between Tottenham and Everton to sign French international midfielder Moussa Sissoko.

The summer was full of rumours after an impressive Euro 2016 campaign and Moussa Sissoko somehow turned his career around after being blamed as a big reason for Newcastle’s relegation after numerous sub-par performances.

But eventually Tottenham won the race to sign the Frenchman, who is rated at €23.6 Million, and he has so far failed to live up to his hefty price tag.

We look at 3 reasons why Tottenham are better off cutting their losses as soon as possible.


1. Learn From Newcastle

It is not often that fans celebrate the sale of a player that joins a bigger club for £30million. Normally this represents the loss of an important player, one that is a fan’s favourite and has outgrown his old club.

But curiously, at Newcastle, this was far from the case. Moussa Sissoko had become something of a hate figure in the North-East, chastised as a player that didn’t put in the required effort, and didn’t show the quality that he often showed flashes of.

So it was even more of a slap in the face to the Newcastle faithful, that having been relegated with Newcastle United after a dreadful season, he played at Euro 2016 with France and looked a totally different player.

Newcastle thanked their lucky stars that they received that money for Sissoko, and Tottenham need to take a leaf out of Magpies’ book, and get rid of him ASAP otherwise they won’t see much of that £30million ever again.


2. Shocking performance at Wembley

As a sign of things to come if Tottenham perseveres with Sissoko, he showcased what was has been described as of the most horrific performances in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt when he started for the North Londoners at Wembley against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Frenchman barely even looked like a footballer as he ran up and down the right wing, unable to find his teammates with simple passes, and many times he didn’t even manage to control the ball in the first instance. He lost the ball 31 times during the evening, which is an average of once every 3 minutes. A team cannot expect to win if they give away the ball with that regularity, let alone one player.


3. He isn’t what they need

One of the most common themes both in the summer, and now after Tottenham fans have seen him play, is that Sissoko just isn’t the type of player that they need. Tottenham have really lacked an incisive attacking player that can offer support to the striker whilst scoring and assisting goals.

Sissoko has shown not just this season, but throughout his career that he doesn’t know how to find the net. And given his recent form; it doesn’t look like he is going to improve on the form that has seen him score just 11 goals since he landed in English football in 2013.

[brown]

 

[skiathospurs]

I am not impressed,but will give him time to settle before casting him aside.Most concerning for me is that he is a big unit,but ducks out of headers and 50/50 balls,you can wait for confidence to arrive to show skill&class,but he is missing the heart/determination for me so far.But Poch worked magic on dier,lamela,dembele so I wont give up.

 

[Don Diaz]

2. Shocking performance at Wembley

As a sign of things to come if Tottenham perseveres with Sissoko, he showcased what was has been described as of the most horrific performances in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt when he started for the North Londoners at Wembley against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Frenchman barely even looked like a footballer as he ran up and down the right wing, unable to find his teammates with simple passes, and many times he didn’t even manage to control the ball in the first instance. He lost the ball 31 times during the evening, which is an average of once every 3 minutes. A team cannot expect to win if they give away the ball with that regularity, let alone one player.

That's fair enough, but he wasn't in a minority of one. he's had about 6 games in total played well, poorly and indifferently so far. Lets give him some time and judge him at the end of the season at the earliest. I'd like to see a bit more fight and passion which is an easy fix, the rest will take a bit of time.

 

[skiathospurs]

2.
That's fair enough, but he wasn't in a minority of one. he's had about 6 games in total played well, poorly and indifferently so far. Lets give him some time and judge him at the end of the season at the earliest. I'd like to see a bit more fight and passion which is an easy fix, the rest will take a bit of time.

Where I differ is I dont think installing heart,fight&passion is easy,I think you have it in you or dont.I am not saying I am sure he hasnt got a chance to show that,but it def concerns me.I understand we dont need a team of cloggers,but we have Alli,eriksen already who dont get me wrong put in loads of effort,pressing and all that but who too dip out of headers,tackles at times.Unless sissoko shows more product than them for instance,i dont want another "airy,fairy" midfielder,ducking out of stuff.

Maybe I just miss having an argument lol

 

[boo]

Injury and suspension have hindered the start of Moussa Sissoko's Tottenham career, but he is looking to put that behind him.

Moussa Sissoko is ready to kick-start his Tottenham career after failing to make an impact since his move from Newcastle United.

France midfielder Sissoko, who enjoyed an excellent Euro 2016 with the host nation as they progressed to the final before losing 1-0 to Portugal, traded relegated Newcastle for White Hart Lane late in the transfer window, moving to north London for a fee reported to be in the region of £30million.

But he has endured a difficult beginning to his Spurs career, making just nine appearances in all competitions so far owing to both injury and suspension.

However, Sissoko said: "All the lights are green. It's true that there has been a lot of mishaps: my late signing, my lack of preparation for the season, my blow to the head against Middlesbrough and this suspension.

"All that now is behind me. I have come out, grown up.

"When I arrived, I felt that my team-mates were aware of the amount of my transfer. I was not just any player, but I ignore all of this.

"I was not at the top when I signed, but that's normal. They all worked well this summer while I had a mini-preparation."

Of his retrospective three-game ban for elbowing Bournemouth's Harry Arter, Sissoko added: "It fell at the wrong time. In addition, it was something involuntary. Even the opposition player said.

"I had to work harder than others in training and some double sessions to keep up.

"Tottenham is the biggest club I have known. You must convince in every game, every training session.

"But competition never scared me and the coach is correct.

"It makes playing the best players of the moment for the team to be always on top. If we want to win something late in the season, that is how we can get there."

 

[J.spurs]

Where I differ is I dont think installing heart,fight&passion is easy,I think you have it in you or dont.I am not saying I am sure he hasnt got a chance to show that,but it def concerns me.I understand we dont need a team of cloggers,but we have Alli,eriksen already who dont get me wrong put in loads of effort,pressing and all that but who too dip out of headers,tackles at times.Unless sissoko shows more product than them for instance,i dont want another "airy,fairy" midfielder,ducking out of stuff.

Maybe I just miss having an argument lol

I think managers can bring it out of players though. Ultimately, if he doesn't play with desire, he won't play. The difference between us and Newcastle is that we can drop him if need be, and have a manager who's been pretty ruthless about doing it in the past. As I said earlier, I didn't think he was what we needed (especially at the price) in the window, but he's got to be allowed to settle in.

 

[Havocc]

I have not been impressed, but his price tag made him an easy scapegoat for the media (and me by all accounts).

We all knows he needs to up his game considerably

 

[Don Diaz]

Injury and suspension have hindered the start of Moussa Sissoko's Tottenham career, but he is looking to put that behind him.

Moussa Sissoko is ready to kick-start his Tottenham career after failing to make an impact since his move from Newcastle United.

France midfielder Sissoko, who enjoyed an excellent Euro 2016 with the host nation as they progressed to the final before losing 1-0 to Portugal, traded relegated Newcastle for White Hart Lane late in the transfer window, moving to north London for a fee reported to be in the region of £30million.

But he has endured a difficult beginning to his Spurs career, making just nine appearances in all competitions so far owing to both injury and suspension.

However, Sissoko said: "All the lights are green. It's true that there has been a lot of mishaps: my late signing, my lack of preparation for the season, my blow to the head against Middlesbrough and this suspension.

"All that now is behind me. I have come out, grown up.

"When I arrived, I felt that my team-mates were aware of the amount of my transfer. I was not just any player, but I ignore all of this.

"I was not at the top when I signed, but that's normal. They all worked well this summer while I had a mini-preparation."

Of his retrospective three-game ban for elbowing Bournemouth's Harry Arter, Sissoko added: "It fell at the wrong time. In addition, it was something involuntary. Even the opposition player said.

"I had to work harder than others in training and some double sessions to keep up.

"Tottenham is the biggest club I have known. You must convince in every game, every training session.

"But competition never scared me and the coach is correct.

"It makes playing the best players of the moment for the team to be always on top. If we want to win something late in the season, that is how we can get there."

The thing with all these lovely player quotes is that they all say the same positive things...which is obviously great to hear but I'd like to see the words translated into actions on the pitch. I have no doubt that based on his performances at Euro 2016 he can be a great player for us, however the performance at Leverkusen didn't match up to this....let's see how he gets on when he's had a few more matches and time to bed in.

 

[Ted the Yid]

I didn't pay a lot of attention to him when he was at Newcastle and also didn't see much of him in the Euros bit I wonder if his game would be more suited to how we set up against woolwich?

Playing more counter attacking with quick balls up the pitch. his power and having more room maybe why we got him in?

 

[boo]

Tottenham should have saved £14m and signed Boufal instead of Sissoko

 

[Dorset]

Tottenham should have saved £14m and signed Boufal instead of Sissoko

Aarrgghh numpties writng shoulda, couda, woulda articles get right on my tits. They think they know what goes on behind the scenes, in the players heads, and the views of the managers. OK, there were some rumours in the media that we were interested in this bloke but if you went back in time and listed all the summer transfer rumour repirts you would probably find links with us to every player in the world.

This sort ot article is numpty food, they will read the headline and go off on a oneliner campaign. How the fuck can this article writer say Boufal is the dog's bollox when he has only played 73 minutes of PL football?
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/11/1...-14m-and-signed-boufal-instead-of-sis/page/1/

 

[skiathospurs]

Aarrgghh numpties writng shoulda, couda, woulda articles get right on my tits. They think they know what goes on behind the scenes, in the players heads, and the views of the managers. OK, there were some rumours in the media that we were interested in this bloke but if you went back in time and listed all the summer transfer rumour repirts you would probably find links with us to every player in the world.

This sort ot article is numpty food, they will read the headline and go off on a oneliner campaign. How the fuck can this article writer say Boufal is the dog's bollox when he has only played 73 minutes of PL football?

I reckon we should have bought both charlie austin&Berahino for that sum,merely to shut all the dimwits up that have wasted hours posting that we should have signed them,I dont care how they would have played,just to never have to read another post about those two it would have been money well spent.

 

[Dorset]

Isn't easy to say 'shoulda' and bleat on about players we missed? Why don't these article writers focus on the ones that didn't get away? There are no articles saying 'Yay Tottenham did good buying Wanyama' are there? Or, 'How fast is Georges Kevin? Fucking fast' or 'Vincent will be the dogs bollocks once he settles in' or ' Sissoko will show the form he showed in the Euros and Spurs fans will go 'oooohhh' No, only negative news is welcome these days.

 

[Havocc]

I reckon we should have bought both charlie austin&Berahino for that sum,merely to shut all the dimwits up that have wasted hours posting that we should have signed them,I dont care how they would have played,just to never have to read another post about those two it would have been money well spent.

I tend to agree, but we have seen this guys potential in the Euro's, if he can recover that form soon, then he will be a monster for us.

One thing you cannot predict, is how a player will settle at Spurs. I remember one player who couldn't get a win every time he played. Look how he turned out

 

[boo]

ouch!

Mauricio Pochettino has delivered a stinging assessment of Moussa Sissoko's first four months at Tottenham and warned the club's record signing he must raise his game.

'He was at home, he wasn't here,' said Pochettino, confirming there was no injury when pressed about the absence of the 27-year-old France international during the game against London Rivals 'The Chavs'.

'Football is not about money,' he added. 'It is about you being better, and that you show on the training ground that you are better than another team-mate and that you deserve to be involved or not.

'I need to take the decisions and I believe the players that started and the players on the bench deserved to be involved.

'There's nothing else to find in it. It is about football. Different things happen. You sign a player and then you expect something, and you don't find what you expected.

'If another deserves to be involved like maybe Josh Onomah or maybe Vincent Janssen they will be involved. Why, because we pay money, do they deserve to play?'

'He needs to work hard and to show in future that he deserves to be on the team,' added Pochettino.

[brown]

 

[skiathospurs]

 

[Don Diaz]

ouch!

Mauricio Pochettino has delivered a stinging assessment of Moussa Sissoko's first four months at Tottenham and warned the club's record signing he must raise his game.

'He was at home, he wasn't here,' said Pochettino, confirming there was no injury when pressed about the absence of the 27-year-old France international during the game against London Rivals 'The Chavs'.

'Football is not about money,' he added. 'It is about you being better, and that you show on the training ground that you are better than another team-mate and that you deserve to be involved or not.

'I need to take the decisions and I believe the players that started and the players on the bench deserved to be involved.

'There's nothing else to find in it. It is about football. Different things happen. You sign a player and then you expect something, and you don't find what you expected.

'If another deserves to be involved like maybe Josh Onomah or maybe Vincent Janssen they will be involved. Why, because we pay money, do they deserve to play?'

'He needs to work hard and to show in future that he deserves to be on the team,' added Pochettino.

[brown]

Welcome to Spurs and the Pochettino work ethic. We are not in the business of carrying passengers......long may it continue.

 

[Dorset]

I tend to agree, but we have seen this guys potential in the Euro's, if he can recover that form soon, then he will be a monster for us.

One thing you cannot predict, is how a player will settle at Spurs. I remember one player who couldn't get a win every time he played. Look how he turned out

What that useless Welsh bloke? He was pony, I think it was two years before he played in a winning Spurs side, farking waste of money he was. What's he doing these days?

 

[Havocc]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.....

 

[Ted the Yid]

Does not surprise me that he is dropped by Poch and he won't get a sniff of a chance until he earns his spurs. if he doesn't turn it around by season end, he will be gone.

He doesn't seem to fair well in tight spaces and I would guess his better form may be shown where we play a more of a counter game (like how we played v Arsenal).

If we get a result against CSKA then he among others should get his opportunity in the Europa, but even that is not set in stone under Posh.

One of my fav quotes from last season "you sign a contract to train, not to play" (or something like that).

 

[skiathospurs]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.....

http://www.90min.com/posts/4193832-...tedly-interested-in-spurs-flop-moussa-sissoko

 

[Liam]

Does not surprise me that he is dropped by Poch and he won't get a sniff of a chance until he earns his spurs. if he doesn't turn it around by season end, he will be gone.

He doesn't seem to fair well in tight spaces and I would guess his better form may be shown where we play a more of a counter game (like how we played v Arsenal).

If we get a result against CSKA then he among others should get his opportunity in the Europa, but even that is not set in stone under Posh.

One of my fav quotes from last season "you sign a contract to train, not to play" (or something like that).

His work rate isn't great either and neither is his end product at present. There is a good player in there somewhere I believe but he needs to up his training to get to the level Poch wants. He was talking about Real Madrid in the summer but he would have no chance there if he can't handle THFC and Poch...

 

[skiathospurs]

Everton plot January move for Tottenham's Moussa Sissoko despite summer snub http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/738199/Moussa-Sissoko-Everton-Tottenham-Transfer-News-Rumours-Gossip … #EFC #THFC

my mood now.

 

[Ted the Yid]

His work rate isn't great either and neither is his end product at present. There is a good player in there somewhere I believe but he needs to up his training to get to the level Poch wants. He was talking about Real Madrid in the summer but he would have no chance there if he can't handle THFC and Poch...

He seems to need that extra touch before passing. Does not do well in a crowded defence.

 

[Dorset]

I think it's a bit previous to be calling him a flop, he has only played 327 minutes of Premier League football for us. I am still hoping he will show us some of the magic he showed in the Euro's.

Ahhh, I just had a thought, that could be it innit? He is narked at the flag wavers, of course! He is a proper European and is rightfully pissed off with the right wing Daily Nazi readers who have said 'fuck off you foreigners, we're taking back control so you can fuck off and watch us sink from Calais'. Oh well, I suppose Fuxit means Fuixit so he might never be bolloxed to turn on the magic now.

 

[Don Diaz]

His work rate isn't great either and neither is his end product at present. There is a good player in there somewhere I believe but he needs to up his training to get to the level Poch wants. He was talking about Real Madrid in the summer but he would have no chance there if he can't handle THFC and Poch...

I hope he'll be fine, just needs to buy into the work ethic and not keep giving the ball away. It took Son and Lamela a while to get going....janssen too by the look of it, although the work ethic is already there and he's young.

If there's no improvement by the end of the season he's on sticky ground.....stickier than 'Sticky' the stick insect, stuck on a sticky bun.....