A number of Tottenham supporters have been raging on Twitter after it was confirmed that Mauricio Pochettino has decided to start Moussa Sissoko against Cardiff City on Saturday.
The France international, on a reported £80,000-per-week at the club [Source: Spotrac], has had a fractious relationship with Spurs fans throughout his time in North London and it has been confirmed on the club’s official Twitter account that he is starting this weekend.
#THFC: Lloris (C), Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Rose, Dier, Winks, Sissoko, Lucas, Son, Kane.
Latest @WilliamHill odds – https://t.co/1uUS2Qwi4N pic.twitter.com/WuTmJhgEi6
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 6, 2018
And the status quo shows no sign off abating, as the Tottenham faithful have come out in force after the former Newcastle man was selected to start against Neil Warnock’s side.
This is Futbol has rounded up some of the best tweets below.
Sissoko ????????????
— Tahir Iqbal (@Tahir_E17) October 6, 2018
Oh christ i just realised sissoko is on the right
— Tøm (@TomCOYS) October 6, 2018
Sissoko starts ahead of an inform lamela, best player against Barca, absolute joke
— Wade Clayden (@WadeClayden13) October 6, 2018
Sissok-oh
— George (@6ftNewt) October 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/spursfan1822/status/1048558843846938624
https://twitter.com/swedishspur/status/1048559504407838720
How does Sissoko start instead of Lamela? Insane!
— Rory (@Rory4Spurs) October 6, 2018
Sissoko starts? Obviously his incredible showing against Barca convinced the manager.
At this point you're just trolling us right? No stadium but still Sissoko? C'mon. #COYS— VB (@VonBlade) October 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/DavidMegicks/status/1048559735744675841
OPINION
You can understand the Tottenham fans’ frustration here. Sissoko has flattered to deceive throughout his time with the club, rarely producing a consistent run of form, but yet he continues to feature regularly under Mauricio Pochettino. The Spurs boss clearly fancies the Frenchman and values his contribution to the team, but his inclusion ahead of Victor Wanyama and Erik Lamela – even if he’s slightly injured – beggars belief. The former Newcastle man has produced precious little this season and is unlikely to influence the game much today, but Pochettino has still gone for him in his midfield unit. Cardiff aren’t the most intimidating opposition, so it makes sense for Sissoko to be used here rather than against tougher teams, but he’s still far from the ideal selection for the Tottenham faithful, as demonstrated by their reaction above. Let’s see if he can prove the fans wrong with a dominant showing against the Bluebirds, but don’t hold your breath.