Moussa Sissoko was being written off as a flop just a few months into his life at White Hart Lane. The former Newcastle United midfielder was brought to the club for a club record £30 million. However, he has struggled to the extent of manager Mauricio Pochettino claiming that players do not deserve to start only on the basis of the transfer fees. Pochettino also dropped Sissoko from some of the big matches in recent weeks. The struggles by the midfielder was surprising considering that he is now a stranger to the Premier League after having been a Newcastle player since 2013.
Sissoko seems to have come back with a bang. He first his made impression as a substitute in the 1-0 loss against Manchester United. Even though he was unable to prevent Spurs from losing the game, he came extremely close to almost single-handedly helping the club get back level in terms. Italian international defender Matteo Darmian had a hard time dealing with Sissoko, who played on the right side of the midfield when he came on. The 27-year-old followed that up with an equally impressive display in the 3-0 win over Hull City.
It was clear that the good performance against United convinced Pochettino to give the player a starting spot against Hull. He may not have scored or assisted a goal, but Sissoko was quietly brilliant and he helped his teammates tick along nicely. Sissoko recently contributed his first goal for the club through an assist in the 5-0 win over Swansea. It is clear that he is coming back to his best. The midfielder has claimed that he only needed time in order to show his quality and as quoted by Metro, he said:
“For me the manager said what he thinks. For me it was the same, just to come into training and try to give my best. I know what I can do for the team. I know what is my level.
“I just needed some time to be ready on everything because it was a big change for me. Now I understand everything and everything is better for me and that’s good.
“The intensity of the training has been particularly difficult. The style of how he wants us to play. A lot of things.
“What we do at the training. It was a lot of change. Every manager has his style of training so now I understand everything.”
Spurs were heavily criticised for their poor summer signings when the club went through a tough run of results during the months of October and November. After an excellent start to the campaign, the club fell out of the top four and almost came close to dropping out of the top six as a result of this poor form. Sissoko was one of the summer signings along with the likes of Vincent Janssen. The latter, though, has still not recovered despite being in England for almost 6 months.
Sissoko seems to be finding his feet at just the right time, as Spurs need a lot of fresh players in order to recover their campaign. The 3-0 win against Hull City is only the third win of the last five games. The team was extremely poor in the loss against Manchester United after being unable to create opportunities going forward.
The club are once again at White Hart Lane this weekend when they take on Burnley, and it will be followed by back to back away matches.
