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Player Watch: Moussa Sissoko

ohtottenham!

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2013
7,497
13,029
Mourinho did love Fellani through so does have a thing for weird players lol...

(although I think Fellani has a lot more ability than Sissoko tbh, he’s just not your typical pretty footballer in his style).

Fellani scores goals though.

One thing is for sure, if Jose can get Sissoko not to forget how to be a professional footballer when he gets near the oppositions goal then he really is a genius.
Fellaini was a solid, versatile, hold-up player with aerial abilty and an attacking threat. Mourinho used Fellaini's versatility to both chase games when Utd needed a goal in an attacking sense, or defensively, to close games down with an aerial outlet that could also protect and distribute the ball effectively. Fellaini's aerial strength gave Utd attacking and defensive options.

Think Sissoko has a role to play, and definite strengths to his game, which he showed plenty of times last season when he was pretty much our only ever-present CM. I think he is defensively under-rated. With Poch's insistence on the diamond, he was mopping up opposition attacks in CM and on both flanks. I thought he was our best defender in many of those games.

One-on_one, he isn't often beaten for speed or strength by any attacker, and he's hard to stop when he's surging forward....unless he comically trips himself.

I get the criticism of his positional sense/awareness to cut it as a holding DM, but still there's enough to do the job if need be.
 

BringBack_leGin

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2004
27,719
54,929
Sissoko’s best chance of starting will be if we ever play a three man midfield, with him taking the box to box role. However, Mourinho appears to have moved away from that model given those comments. I’d still imagine Sissoko would usually come off the bench to help shit a game down I’d winning by a right margin, or help cause chaos if plan A is failing, and there’s a number of positions he could come on in, but I can see us trying to move him on to be replaced with a proper DM to compete with Dier (my choice remains Kalvin Phillips).
 

DJS

A hoonter must hoont
Dec 9, 2006
31,261
21,760
If we’d have had any offers in the summer should have taken them and reinvested.

Which is typical of our poor transfer dealings in past few seasons in not recognising when someone can be upgraded and premium time to get good amount of dosh for them (although could be no came in for him anyway).
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
If we’d have had any offers in the summer should have taken them and reinvested.

Which is typical of our poor transfer dealings in past few seasons in not recognising when someone can be upgraded and premium time to get good amount of dosh for them (although could be no came in for him anyway).

Not really, he was obviously one of Poch's favs hence why the club gave him a new contract.
 

archiewasking

Waiting for silverware..........
Jul 5, 2004
7,848
11,668
In the Metro this morning... "Moussa Sissoko is 13/2 to score. If he finds the back of the net, Mourinho really is the Special One"
 

SpursAddict

winners never quit and quitters never win
Mar 27, 2012
1,033
1,593
Maybe Mourinho could use his qualities at right back when rotating players? I think he has the quality to play there.
 

TheRevolution

Well-Known Member
Nov 25, 2018
873
2,304
Good to see he won't be playing in a midfield 2 anymore. Think that the him and Winks pivot was awfully unbalanced and contributed to alot of our problems.
 

journeyman

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2005
931
3,657
Could Jose turn Moussa into the kind of defensive mid he wants & needs? Could we teach him to sit and break up play rather than charge upfield? I think it’s worth looking at. He’s more mobile than Dier.
 

chrissivad

Staff
May 20, 2005
51,646
58,072
It was a nice finish, considering his other efforts!

Glad he has scored, but I am not expecting this to be the start of a long run of goals ;)
 

edson

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2005
3,945
12,117
indexyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.jpg
 

DenverSpur

Well-Known Member
Sep 25, 2011
1,915
5,508
Quality finish no doubt. Today shows that on the right of the 3 behind Kane is his best position. His pace and power cause all sorts of problems for defenders. He’s much more relaxed playing there as his goal showed. He’s not comfortable playing in CM as he’s aware his technical shortcomings will put the team under pressure. He’s not comfortable receiving the ball under pressure so tries to avoid it hence all the pointing. He’s also not a very good tackler. He either rushes in and bundles them over for a free kick or makes a half arsed attempt at a tackle and they’re past him( see both injury time goals in last two games). It’s notable that we lost control of the game when he was moved back into midfield. This is not to put blame on him it’s just a fact that he is not a CM player and is not comfortable there. I was pleased that JM recognized that both Lucas and Sissoko natural position is wide right and was surprised and disappointed that his first substitution involved moving Sissoko into midfield. A straight swap bringing in Lo Celso to midfield seemed a more logical choice.
 

markiespurs

SC Supporter
Jul 9, 2008
11,899
15,576
Thought he was a beast today.

As for his goal, any striker would have been proud of that one. Loved the reaction from the rest of the team when Sissoko scored, they all looked genuinely happy for him.
 

Ray Ray

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2018
548
2,240
Definitely didn't mean to hit that far corner! Looked like he was scared once it left his foot!

Great game today all round , was a beast and linked up really well with Serge.
 

Hakkz

Svensk hetsporre
Jul 6, 2012
8,196
17,270
Must have been happy with Moussa Sissoko's performance?

We have options. Of course I am very happy. Of course the goal is absolutely incredible but we have other options. I am happy with the way Lucas played in the previous two matches, I am happy now with Moussa.

We have options, we have quality, it is important for the players to feel that we need everybody, opportunities arrive for everybody.

Today I changed three or four players, maybe in the next game I will do the same. That is very, very important. It is a great feeling, it is the best feeling a player can have is at home to have his fans with him, amazing song, beautiful really.

I was singing along, or trying to and it is fantastic for him. The goal is magnificent for him, the action is the same, even Sonny not scoring a goal, two assists and the beautiful cross is half of a goal.

:LOL:
 

Pellshek

Well-Known Member
Dec 30, 2015
2,509
7,289
Man of the Match today for me. MVP might be a better description, but either way, vital contributions, positioning and connecting play in both offence and defence.
 
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