The problem with Moussa Sissoko

Newcastle United’s season so far has been a disaster. We have a solitary win against Northampton in the League Cup and have so far only garnered 3 points in the Premier League against Southampton, Manchester United and Chelsea. There have been a large number of talking points as to why this season has started the way it has; the worst start to a league season in over 100 years. Could it be the change in management, integrating the new signings in to a side, playing a different kind of football or have the players simply not been good enough? I’d suggest it is a combination of all of the above but what has been evident in abundance to fans watching the games are the poor performances on the pitch, both from individuals and from the team as a whole.

I wanted to write this blog today to profile one of the most high profile players whose performances so far have been woeful. That player is Moussa Sissoko.

Newcastle United signed Sissoko during the January transfer window in 2013. He had been linked with the club for a number of months; he fitted the “Ashley blueprint” perfectly – French, young and going out of contract at the end of the season. The perfect attributes for a world class player…

We managed to get Sissoko for a nominal fee (believed to be around £1.5m) in January which was somewhat of a surprise, rather than waiting for his contract to expire and getting him for free 6 months later, we spent a small amount of money to get him immediately. At the time I thought we had really landed a top class player. He played for Toulouse as a powerhouse type in the centre of midfield. He could defend and attack, he was a real box to box player, he would complement Cabaye and Tiote perfectly. When he signed there was a lot of talk about him becoming the next captain over Cabaye; Sissoko seemed to have a lot more influence in the dressing room and was well respected.

His debut came against Chelsea and the rest they say is history, but I feel his performance in his debut has kind of shaped his career at Newcastle United in a rather skew whiff fashion. In that game he was played in a number 10 role – sitting just behind the forwards. He was given free rein to attack and to be fair to Alan Pardew, it worked – he scored 2 goals and we won the game. But he was then continually played in that position, or out on the right win, and despite occasionally turning in good performances, the frequency that these happened seemed to indicate it was more from luck than anything else.

Shortly after signing, Sissoko went on record in the press to highlight a conversation he had with the French national team coach, Didier Deschamps:

I think this says a lot; Sissoko is not a number 10, or a right winger, and seemingly Newcastle United under Alan Pardew, John Carver and even Steve McClaren seem to have missed that.

When Sissoko has played in the centre of midfield his performances have drastically improved but he only seems to be played here when we have an injury to Colback, Anita or Tiote; in my opinion he should be starting in this position, playing the box to box midfielder role alongside one of the aforementioned players.

Sissoko’s poor performances this season have made him somewhat of a scapegoat and he only has himself to blame for this. It is well known that Sissoko wanted to leave the club in the summer to play Champions League football. Whether there were any bids for him or not, he clearly isn’t happy that he is still at Newcastle United and it appears that this unhappiness has filtered in to his performances on the pitch, and, given the influence he clearly has amongst the squad, has this affected other players’ performances as well? Newcastle United have been badly affected by player sales in the past; especially when we have not had adequate replacements ready to come in but there is something to be said for not wanting to keep an unhappy player.

Every chance Sissoko gets, he is in the French press sounding off at wanting Champions League football and to a certain extent, that is fine; all players should be ambitious and want to play at the highest level Sissoko has to realise that if he wants to achieve this, his performances need to improve tenfold. If Sissoko plays well, the team generally plays well and there is a big weight of expectation on Sissoko’s shoulders to carry the team forward. No, he isn’t club captain, but I suspect he has a lot more pull in the changing room than Coloccini does.

I mentioned in my last blog that Newcastle United is a club seen by many players as a stepping stone on to bigger things. I also said that this is not necessarily a bad thing; most clubs outside the top 3 or 4 are too. But players have to realise that to get the move they desire, they need to perform consistently well, in all matches, in all competitions; not just in games against the “big” clubs which are shown on TV. Cabaye turned in some world class performances for the club and got his move, as did Ba, as did Remy (albeit whilst on loan). All three have gone on to win titles, albeit whilst warming the benches of PSG and Chelsea respectively.

Sissoko regularly gets a starting place for the French national team but, given the talented players France have at their disposal, Sissoko’s place in the starting eleven is certainly not guaranteed. The Premier League is always an interesting season prior to a major international competition. There are always some odd signings in the summer; big name players moving to so called lesser sides so they get a starting place in an attempt to impress their national team manager, playing on a bigger stage in the English Premier League but I suspect it is having the opposite affect with Sissoko. He is unhappy but then he is not being pushed out of the Newcastle United starting eleven. His performances have been poor but has McClaren got the bottle to drop him? Will this kick make Sissoko get his act together in the fear of losing out on Euro 2016?

We have Norwich at home after the international break and changes need to be made. I like Sissoko a lot, I like him as a central box to box midfielder but is now the time to drop him?