Ange Postecoglou must axe Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma after what he did in Luton win
Yves Bissouma has not enjoyed a positive few weeks from a Mali or Tottenham perspective.
Bissouma made an incredible start to the 2023/24 campaign, and it looked as if Ange Postecoglou was getting the best out of the midfielder after his difficult debut campaign in North London.
However, in recent months, Bissouma’s form has dipped dramatically and things don’t look to be getting any better for the 27-year-old.
He was blasted for his carelessness in the 3-0 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage (16 March) and was left enraged after he was snubbed by Mali during the March international break.
And against Luton Town, his performance levels were once again called into question.
As Tahith Chong gave the visitors the lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (30 March) after just two minutes, Bissouma was criticised for his defending in the build-up to the goal.
Football London’s Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold wrote via his X account (3:04 pm, 30 March), “Luton score. Kulusevski plays a poor pass at one end and the visitors break quickly and Townsend gets past Bissouma far too easily before finding Chong to fire home into the bottom right corner.”
Ange Postecoglou must axe Yves Bissouma against West Ham after his performance for Tottenham on Saturday
Spurs were able to come back from going behind, just about, as half-time substitute Brennan Johnson forced an Issa Kabore own goal, with Son Heung-min scoring late on to ensure Spurs returned to winning ways.
However, the game was made more difficult than it needed to be, and Bissouma’s early mistake might have proved costly on another day.
It is hard to find any positives from Bissouma’s display against Rob Edwards’ side.
His defending was incredibly poor moments before Chong fired the Hatters ahead, as he put in an incredibly weak challenge on former Spurs star Andros Townsend which allowed the winger to get past him with ease and find Ross Barkley, who played the ball across to Chong.
As per Sofascore, the ex-Brighton man managed to complete 86 per cent of his passes, with one of those key, and win two of his three aerial duels, but that was about all he contributed to the match before being replaced in the 86th minute.
He won just 50 per cent of his ground duels, and failed with his one attempted long ball forward.
Bissouma also gave possession away eight times and was dribbled past once, the fateful moment which led to Luton’s opener.
After watching on from the bench, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will feel as if he deserves to replace Bissouma after what the Dane did on international duty, while Rodrigo Bentancur will also feel as if he is deserving of a start.
Spurs will travel to West Ham on Tuesday 2 April, and with the quick turnaround in mind, this would be the perfect opportunity for Postecoglou to drop Bissouma to the bench and see what one of his other midfielders can do.
In other Tottenham news, a Spurs insider has shared a prediction about left-back Destiny Udogie after what happened this week.
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