On the latest episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, Ricky Sacks, Jamie Brown, Richard Whitehead and James Dickens have been discussing the latest goings-on at the north London club, looking back on the 3-0 win against Leicester City last weekend.
One topic of conversation on the recent episode, which was titled: ‘Clinical Kane‘, was Spurs midfielder Moussa Sissoko. The Frenchman has been a regular since the Premier League restart, despite having suffered a long-term injury in January that kept him out until the Premier League’s suspension in March (per Transfermarkt).
Here’s what Dickens had to say about the former Newcastle United man’s recent performances:
“Again, if you look at the amount of passes, the player who had the most possession for Spurs, the most touches outside of the defence – because they always get [the] most touches – was Moussa Sissoko.
“So, I think Moussa Sissoko is an embodiment of this principle where he does so much well. I thought he played quite well today, he breaks the play up, in terms of the counter-attack, he’s the person who drives that along, but he’s awful with the ball. He is terrible, and he just keeps giving the ball away.”
TIF Thoughts…
Dickens does suggest that Sissoko played well, which is backed up with his solid 7.31 rating in the win against Brendan Rodgers’ side. The 30-year-old enjoyed a pass success rate of 74.2%, which was better than his midfield partner Harry Winks (per WhoScored), which doesn’t really back up Dickens’ point that he is ‘awful with the ball’.
Do you agree that Sissoko isn't good enough on the ball?
Yes
No
The Lilywhites had just 29% possession against the Foxes on Sunday, which certainly suggests that having the ball and being good in possession is not vital to the way Jose Mourinho wants his side to play, and therefore even if Dickens believes that the Frenchman isn’t good enough on the ball, there seems no reason to drop the £18 million-rated man from the side after his strong overall performance against Leicester.