Because a 25 man squad isn't always littered with world class talent
No shit.
What's that got to do with having a really bad player as part of your 25 man squad?
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Because a 25 man squad isn't always littered with world class talent
I'll have to take your word for it on the players you mentioned. I only watch Spurs these days.Stevee, we could chuck a dart into the squad list of midfielders for most teams in Europe's top 7 leagues and there's about a 95% chance we would hit a better midfielder.
We could have had Sangare for 9m last summer. And there's a few of those types of bargains kicking around, several in Ligue 1 for sure, and others leagues as well, for 25-30 (no more than we paid for Sissoko 5 years ago) people like Sabitzer & Kessie are reportedly available as they enter latter part of contracts.
If Jose wants to improve this team, he may have to. We signed Bergwijn for 30m without him being on Mou's wish list.
We have got to improve on Sissoko, even as a squad option. It's killing us, even with Mou's bus, and sooner pr later we will have another manager who might want to kick the ball through, not over midfield?
I'll have to take your word for it on the players you mentioned. I only watch Spurs these days.
The way I see it is this :
Sissoko is, in effect, first choice for the 2nd DM spot, if that makes sense.
PEH is obviously first choice.
Winks is not trusted, maybe for good reason but that's another debate.
Maybe Skipp will replace Sissoko next year.
So, unless Jose decides to play Ndombele there, we are in a weak position.
Even if that does happen, we are still weak this season. If either of those get injured we are left with Sissoko and Winks as back up. Both of which are capable imo, but not top quality.
As it stands Sissoko is a vital member of the squad and the people who just shout "He's shit, get him out of my club" aren't living in the real world. They think that it's easy to sign better players, when it isn't. So many factors come into play and its not like playing FM on a laptop.
In short, as I said earlier, Sissoko can be improved upon but it won't be easy despite what you or others say.
To improve on him we need a first team starter, not a squad player.
If he's that bad and it's "an absolute piece of piss to improve on him", then why haven't we done so already ?I think people who think we don't think we have better options than to play any CM remit Sissoko currently fills aren't living in the real world. Next to PEH, I'd play Ndombele, Lo Celso, Winks, White (and Skipp if we'd kept him here) in any CM role ahead of Sissoko, and we've also had 8 windows to find an upgrade.
I don't care what you or anyone else says, It would be an absolute piece of piss to improve on him.
Fucking hell you ask why I give you an answer and you give attitude in your replyNo shit.
What's that got to do with having a really bad player as part of your 25 man squad?
Sissoko CL minutes played:You do understand the that an appearance can mean 1 minute or 90 and as a measurement metric for measuring a players time on the pitch is virtually meaningless ?
Sissoko PL minutes played:
16-17 - 902 - 2nd - 86 points
17-18 - 1394 - 3rd - 77 points
18-19 - 2337 - 4th - 71 points
19-20 - 2455 - 6th - 59 points
How about that for a nice linear correlation?
Couldn't find |||||||||||||||SISSOKO | Simple Passes | DESPACITO | HD|||||||||||||||||That's a total, which is effected by minutes on the pitch - of which he's played nearly double Winks (who he's mostly been alternating with in CM). he has the 9th average of passes per 90 (33), Winks (46 pg) has more and Hojbjerg (69 pg) averages 3 times as many passes per game. Ndombele is only 1 behind (32) and he's played less minutes and all bar Sunday (where he made 78 passes) as ACM.
Not sure why you are including 2018 WC win in his CV, he was nowhere near it. You're right though, he did play in the 2016 final, where they got beat at home by a shit, Ronaldoless Portugal. Yay.
I'll have to take your word for it on the players you mentioned. I only watch Spurs these days.
The way I see it is this :
Sissoko is, in effect, first choice for the 2nd DM spot, if that makes sense.
PEH is obviously first choice.
Winks is not trusted, maybe for good reason but that's another debate.
Maybe Skipp will replace Sissoko next year.
So, unless Jose decides to play Ndombele there, we are in a weak position.
Even if that does happen, we are still weak this season. If either of those get injured we are left with Sissoko and Winks as back up. Both of which are capable imo, but not top quality.
As it stands Sissoko is a vital member of the squad and the people who just shout "He's shit, get him out of my club" aren't living in the real world. They think that it's easy to sign better players, when it isn't. So many factors come into play and its not like playing FM on a laptop.
In short, as I said earlier, Sissoko can be improved upon but it won't be easy despite what you or others say.
To improve on him we need a first team starter, not a squad player.
Once more. Even more of a reason to boot him. If he has been "leader and stong personality" in the squad that has folded like house of cards every single instance when the pressure really builds. We need some real leaders who can also lead by example not by... speaking the same language and run around a lot ... and point fingers.Has anyone watched the Amazon doc or any behind the scenes videos? Sissoko is a leader in the squad, that’s huge. You always hear managers say you need a strong personality to control the clubhouse, Sissoko does that with Lloris and Kane. It’s noticeable whenever Aurier or Ndombele screw up.
Sissoko is a lot like Winks in the regard fans turned on him so he will get hammered for every wrong move. He’s a good player for us, always puts effort in, covers the wing better than any other midfielder and can defend better than our other wingers.
Winks, Dele, Gedson, Lucas and Sanchez should all be replaced before Sissoko.
Lol. Demise?with our demise
Of course is not impossible to replace him and I would say that Ndombele is more than 5x the player.Generally agree what you are saying.
But oh well, we just signed 5x the player for half the money this summer. So on the flip-side its not like it is impossible.
And once more - people who talk about his fantastic defensive distribution totally ignore the fact that when one CM has only ability to pick most obvious and close pass AND fails to control the ball under pressure most times, this will slow us down and makes it easier to rob the ball from us.
Once more. Even more of a reason to boot him. If he has been "leader and stong personality" in the squad that has folded like house of cards every single instance when the pressure really builds. We need some real leaders who can also lead by example not by... speaking the same language and run around a lot ... and point fingers.
If such player is the mental leader, it is massive, massive warning sign.
But in this instance I trust Mou. I just assume that he understood his importance and did not want to change everything at once, and will turn attention to that issue in next window (when Sissoko hopefully leaves and some adaquate footballer with leader ability comes in instead of him)!
Of course is not impossible to replace him and I would say that Ndombele is more than 5x the player.
I said that it is difficult to replace him, due to many factors.
My point is, that since he's been here we've spent god knows how many millions, signed and sold numerous players and he is still a first choice for us.
He must be doing something right and can't be as bad as some people make out.
Yeah, agree with that.I was referring to Hjojberg, who cost half (~15m) of Sissoko price.
Agreed that Ndombele is more than 5x the player Sissoko ever has been.
I would argue that we have not spent enough/quite correctly on the midfield. Wanyama purchase was a huge success, but injuries killed him. Right after his injury we should have gone in for new DM...but for whatever reason we stalled with it until purchasing Hjojberg this summer.
I just find it hard agreeing with this. Sissoko has been here 5 years now. 4 of which we’ve been in a position where he’s had to be a starter in the team. Are you really suggesting we couldn’t have signed a better midfielder in that time period?I'll have to take your word for it on the players you mentioned. I only watch Spurs these days.
The way I see it is this :
Sissoko is, in effect, first choice for the 2nd DM spot, if that makes sense.
PEH is obviously first choice.
Winks is not trusted, maybe for good reason but that's another debate.
Maybe Skipp will replace Sissoko next year.
So, unless Jose decides to play Ndombele there, we are in a weak position.
Even if that does happen, we are still weak this season. If either of those get injured we are left with Sissoko and Winks as back up. Both of which are capable imo, but not top quality.
As it stands Sissoko is a vital member of the squad and the people who just shout "He's shit, get him out of my club" aren't living in the real world. They think that it's easy to sign better players, when it isn't. So many factors come into play and its not like playing FM on a laptop.
In short, as I said earlier, Sissoko can be improved upon but it won't be easy despite what you or others say.
To improve on him we need a first team starter, not a squad player.
I'll ask you the same question I asked Blakey.I just find it hard agreeing with this. Sissoko has been here 5 years now. 4 of which we’ve been in a position where he’s had to be a starter in the team. Are you really suggesting we couldn’t have signed a better midfielder in that time period?
There are a vast number of players out there in Sissokos mould but have a bit of technical ability about them. Even someone like Doucoure at Everton would have been a massive upgrade on Sissoko last Summer.
The same bull plop used to be spouted about Ben Davies. “It’d be harder than you think finding a replacement for him” then boom, this summer we actually go out and look for one and find a left back twice as good.
Finding upgrades on bang average players isn’t hard, the will just needs to be there to do it.
On the contrary I believed there was no chance that Mourinho wouldn’t rely on Sissoko.I've oftened wondered if he was going to be Jose's "fall guy".
In the documentary when Jose is told that Sissoko is the most popular in the dressing room, his response was "Fuck" ( or similar).
Obviously Sissoko's application, commitment, desire and dedication won Jose over.
The same as it did for every manager he's played for.
Can he be improved upon? Definitely.
Probably Skipp will replace him next season, or the season after that. But right here and now, he's a useful squad player.
Agree that he does fit the classic Jose player, no doubt about that at all.On the contrary I believed there was no chance that Mourinho wouldn’t rely on Sissoko.
He fits most of the characteristics that you get in a classic Mourinho soldier.
PEH was a steal (like Liverpool and Robertson). In hindsight, many other clubs wished they had gone for himI was referring to Hjojberg, who cost half (~15m) of Sissoko price.
Agreed that Ndombele is more than 5x the player Sissoko ever has been.
I would argue that we have not spent enough/quite correctly on the midfield. Wanyama purchase was a huge success, but injuries killed him. Right after his injury we should have gone in for new DM...but for whatever reason we stalled with it until purchasing Hjojberg this summer.
Because our scouting and recruitment team is horrendously incompetent?I'll ask you the same question I asked Blakey.
If he's that bad and it's so easy to replace him, why haven't we already done so ?
After all we've had 5 years and 8 or 9 windows to do it.