“He provides the team with good balance” – Poch raves about this Spurs midfielder

If you had suggested to Spurs fans last summer that Moussa Sissoko would become a fan favourite at Tottenham in a year, most would have likely instantly dismissed the suggestion.

The French international was on the receiving end of regular scathing criticism on social media in his first two seasons at the club.

However, he managed to completely turn around his Spurs career last season by putting in fantastic performances. In fact, the former Newcastle man was one of the club’s most consistent performers over the course of last season and became almost universally loved by Spurs fans.

Ahead of the game against Manchester City, Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that Sissoko brings balance to the team and put his improvement down to the fact that he now better understands what is expected of him.

He also claimed that the midfielder, who turned 30 on Friday, still has room for improvement.

Speaking to Football.London, the Argentine said, “Moussa has become a player that provides the team with a good balance. There was a moment in the last few years when we started to lose a little bit of energy in the past and he started to provide this energy.

“He started to improve and be clever in the way to play. To learn and to understand what we expect from him exactly and that was the key for him to be more consistent and be in the starting XI and be an important player for the team.

“He is a good professional, a very nice guy, so big, but at the same time, he is so funny. He started to be a person that the fans empathise with and today he is an important player because he provides the team with the balance we needed.

“He is 30 years old and still improving but today 30 you are still so young. In the past when you are 30 years old you start to talk about being an old man. But today you are like 25 years old.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Sissoko has done brilliantly to turn his Spurs career around and is a vital part of the team at the moment. However, as the season progresses, we expect the 30-year-old to fall down the pecking order as the likes of Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso get used to playing with each other.

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