May I ask-Hojbjerg's job was also to protect the back 4, which he did with much better aplomb (ie not allowing his guy to score) but he also managed to pressure the opponent three times more than Sissoko (which helped prevent the ball getting as far as the back 4 sometimes), win the ball in tackles 6 times more than Sissoko, receive it and pass it twice as much as Sissoko, to relieve some of the constant pressure and help try to counter - which was also vital part of the plan - you know, if we were to actually win it - and which we barely did because Sissoko didn't do any of those things, as it happens we got very lucky with scoring with our only two shots on target, both of which benefitted from keeper errors, that also went through his legs.
It really shouldn't need the metrics to confirm what was really easy to see to anyone who isn't just an agenda driven fanboy. I'm not even big fan of Hojbjerg, but you had a direct comparison playing a mirror role adjacent to Sissoko on Saturday, doing it much, much better.
We could have had Tanganga out there doing what Sissoko did Saturday. Shuffle around a 5m square of pitch, between and around Toby and Aurier, pressing no one, tackling no one, barley receiving the ball, barely passing it.
And if it wasn't for VAR existing, he'd have cost us a goal and all of this fanboy result punditry about wonderful performances would have pissed itself away as well.
What do you think Sissoko's strengths (if he has any) are?
At what level do you think he should be playing?
& what do you think his instructions are & does he carry them out?