da leao： Tottenham fans have been reasonably satisfied in recent times after seeing their side head into the international break having won back-to-back Premier League matches.
da supremo： Mauricio Pochettino’s men went into their clash with London rivals Crystal Palace off the back of edging past newly-promoted Wolves 3-2 in their previous league encounter, and thus full of confidence ahead of their trip to Selhurst Park. And the North Londoners made the short trip back across the capital with all three points as Juan Foyth’s effort midway through the second half sealed a 1-0 success for Spurs, a result which keeps them in fourth place in the Premier League table.
Thus, there have been many thrilled Tottenham fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have taken to Twitter recently to heap praise on midfielder Moussa Sissoko, who has been reborn under Pochettino this season, with one supporter stating that the ‘magic of Poch’ was a part of the Frenchman’s resurgence.
And given just how far below-par Sissoko was for much of his Spurs career prior to this term, those Tottenham fans are spot on to gush over the Frenchman, what with Pochettino deserving huge credit for the part he has played in the midfielder’s stunning revival.
Ultimately, it looked for all the world that the 29-year-old’s time at the North London club was at an end after failing to regularly convince of his capabilities following a move from Newcastle United back in 2016, with the midfielder unable to translate his excellent form for France into his club career at Spurs.
In fact, Sissoko started just 15 times in the Premier League last season to underline his lowly position in Pochettino’s pecking order, which must have been particularly concerning to the midfielder given the likes of Mousa Dembele, Harry Winks, and Victor Wanyama, all vying for a place in the heart of Pochettino’s midfield, suffered injury problems during the campaign.
Nonetheless, manager Pochettino kept faith with the Frenchman over the summer, and what an inspired decision that has proven to be given the 29-year-old is now looking like the player that shone for France at Euro 2016 – the player Spurs thought they were signing just a few weeks after that tournament.
Sissoko has now started each of Tottenham’s last five Premier League matches on the right-hand-side of midfield, and has played a key part in their four wins in that time, not least in providing the assist for Erik Lamela in their 1-0 success at West Ham last month.
But it’s also what Sissoko does off the ball, something not particularly pertinent during his spell at Newcastle between 2013 and 2016, which is most remarkable, given the 29-year-old shows a relentless work-ethic out of possession to try and break up opposition play – Ben Davies has recently labelled him as ‘one of the hardest workers’ in the Spurs side.
And that is a far cry away from the Sissoko we have seen for much of his Tottenham career – there have been glimpses of promise, but ultimately he had on the whole hugely underachieved and unconvinced following his move from Newcastle.
But he is a different player now, and given the work Pochettino has done at Spurs, both in terms of guiding them to three successive top four finishes, as well as improving a whole host of young players, the Argentine again deserves great credit for continuing to defy logic at the North London club by helping to reignite Sissoko’s career.
Tottenham fans… what do you think? Let us know!