Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley

There's another potential reason for this, of course...

 

On the night he signed I can't think of one person on here who thought it was the right move. I am sure that his lack of application, 'couldn't give a **** and pay me' attitude was mentioned. I'm pretty sure Adebayor's name was mentioned more than once.

How did we end up signing him? I had some issues with Aaron Lennon but when he was on the pitch he worked his little legs off. We slung him out without a thought. Sissoko had Adebayor, Capoue,(****) Kaboul, etc. written all over him. I can only think that Hugo vouched for him and we trusted that the penny had dropped that he was wasting his talents (such as they are) at Newcastle.

No more last minute bollocks in the forthcoming window. It didn't work before we had MP's fitness requirements. It certainly won't work now. If we can't afford someone decent who wants to come and play for us and MP in the CL and at Wembley and the new stadium and get it done for the first day of training, then leave it. We're better off without them. Whatever we spent on N'Jie, N'Koudou and Sissoko would have been better spent on a bigger Cheese Room.

 

I am still (microscopically) intrigued to see how Sissoko does if played through the middle. He thrived there when Benitez took over the Toon and was deployed there next to Pogba (who he outshone) at the Euros. Poch seems determined to play him as a wider player which just doesn't suit his game. He has the strength, pace and engine to drive at the opposition but lacks even a modicum of skill (every time I've seen him beat an opponent it has been through sheer pace or by getting the ball tangled in his legs and it bouncing kindly on its way out) and cannot shoot, cross or complete a pass beyond 10 yards.

When we first signed him, I presumed (after I'd recovered from the initial shock) that with Bentaleb on his way out, Sissoko would serve as an understudy to Dembele - a player to help us punch holes through the central channels who besides the big Belgian we sorely lacked. Poch clearly doesn't agree with this assessment though, and wants to deploy him as Shteve did at Newcastle.

 

The longer the season's gone on, the more it's looked as if Sissoko was a Levy signing rather than a Poch one.

First of all, and perhaps most obviously, is how he doesn't fit in with the club's transfer strategy or Poch's approach: Poch prefers to work with players who have youth on their side so he can mold them into the player he needs, while the club's strategy is usually to sign players who can fit into the wage structure and have the potential to be sold for a large profit - yet Sissoko is neither of these, as he's 27, went right into the top bracket in our wage structure with £80k p/w wages, and we better have somehow struck that £6m deal because otherwise there's no RoI.

There's also the hallmarks of Sissoko being a marquee signing for the sake of saying we spent big in the summer, which is something the club really should not be in the habit of doing. Remember how West Scam were boasting they'd sign a £20m+ player last summer for the sake of saying they did? How's that worked out for them? It's a transfer policy doomed to fail, because saying you spent x or y on a player doesn't mean you did good business, it means you can't tell the difference between the transfer market and a game of Top Trumps.

 

Is it necessity that has moved him out wide? Erik Lamela's not played for more than half a season. N'Koudou's been seen less than N'Jie after his injury. The penny has dropped that Josh Onomah's not a wide player and Marcus Edwards has had a frustrating time with injury.

Other than the wing backs we don't have any pacy wide players...sorry, any wide players, at all. Given the level of some of his performances, I'd far rather give Kyle Walker or Danny Rose a go in midfield (wide or centrally) and play Trippier or Davies at the back. Who's the better footballer, Walker or Sissoko? Currently, it's not even worth a discussion.

On Saturday, I swear I saw him mis-control a ball and it travelled over 20 yards. Despite being a bit quick, his second touch isn't a tackle as he's no chance of catching up to the ball. His wild thrash of the ball into the crowd was worthy of my left foot and it was on his 'better side'. Level whatever criticism you like at Vincent Janssen, but he hasn't given up yet.

What I saw from Sissoko on Saturday was a player hardly bothering to go through the motions, even with his next contract being 'in the offing'. Nobody celebrated with him after the goals, he stood and watched the others. They just ignored him. There's no way he'll be here next season and he won't be missed by anyone. I say that as someone who has to be pushed to say anything too negative about our players.

 

Trippier as a right winger could actually be a decent option if we ever needed to go down that route.

I say Tripps over Walker because Walker's pace allows him to play both positions in one from RWB anyway, plus he's the better defender of the two so I'd rather he stayed more 'defensive'.

Get Tripps in a good position out wide and you're more or less guaranteed a great cross into the box, while his defensive skills would work well in doubling up with Walker when need be.

 

That is about the sum of it IMHO (bar the "marquee" bit which is not Levy style) .

 

Every time Levy has gone for a "big" name it's worked out horrifically: first he ignored Arnesen's recommendation of Martin Jol to bring in the "big" name Jacques Santini (only for Santini to flounce out of the club, taking his turgid brand of football with him), then he took Comolli's advice and brought in the "big" name Juande Ramos (who never managed to get the club into the top half of the table, but certainly managed to get us into the bottom three), then he brought in the "big" name Franco Baldini to assist with the club's transfers only for Baldini to mistakenly believe he was working for Man City.

 

Just in case anyone was interested in what those reactions were:
http://www.not606.com/threads/transfer-thread-for-2016-17-season.326696/page-113

I got the news out first and mine was:

I stand by that statement!

 

And I stand by

""Hey Daniel, yeah, this is Rafa. What do you mean you’ll have the calamari and a glass of Merlot? Look, nobody’s offering more than change under seat cushions for Sissoko. Howz about we value him at 32 million, you bid 16, and we get some sucker to offer 25? I"ll give you 30% of the fee? No, no, 50 is too high...alright, we’ll compromise at 75..."

"http://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnatio...r-news-rumors-moussa-sissoko-everton-gazumped

Announcer’s curse.

I've been hoping we’ll get Sissoko the whole time..."

 

And I firmly stand by:

"He's a big lad. I think he'll come in useful blocking up the gap in the stands when it gets cold and drafty. We could even give him his own stool to stand on."

 

Just been confirmed. Winks out for the rest of the season.

 

Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks has been ruled out for the rest of the season by an ankle ligament injury sustained against Burnley on Saturday.

EDIT: OOPS. Sorry.

 

Can't say that I'm surprised. Real shame though, as he was having a very good season.
Must be really hard for the lad. Hope he's back to 100% for the start of the next one.

 

A small comfort is that Saido Mane will likely be out for the rest of the season too, which puts an end to Liverpool's title challenge and leaves City as the only team capable of catching Chelsea.

 

<Spurslexia>

 

[QUOTE="C.Kane, post: 10396487, member: 1034625"Liverpool's title challenge....[/QUOTE]

What you talking about, Willis?

 

Unfortunately the input from the Barcoders on the night was horribly perceptive. Sissoko has turned up intermittently in 3 or 4 games, making the occasional surging, but rather Townsend-like blind alley runs, and a few blazed shots that would have gone down better at Twickenham.
What he certainly hasn't done is impose himself in a single game to get a MOTM award, nor has he seemed to apply himself to any defensive duties.
But apart from that he's done ok.....