Tottenham ace Yves Bissouma ‘Furious’ after what happened to the midfielder this week
Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma has been left “furious” after he was left out of Mali’s squad for the ongoing international break.
It has been a difficult season for Bissouma under Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.
After a fantastic start to the campaign, the 27-year-old has not looked the same since he was sent off against Luton Town in a 1-0 victory at Kenilworth Road (7 October).
Suspensions and the African Cup of Nations have seen him in and out of the team in recent months, and it appears that has had an impact on his status within the Mali squad.
Head coach Eric Chelle has opted to leave Bissouma out of his 28-man squad for Mali’s fixtures with Mauritania (22 March) and Nigeria (26 March) over the coming weeks.
Reports from Mail (via Football London, 22 March), have revealed that Bissouma is “furious” with the decision and has consequently unfollowed the country’s FA on Instagram and deleted all references to playing for Mali from his account.
However, while it is understandable that the midfielder would be frustrated due to his expectation of being called up to represent his country, he must ensure that he responds in the right way.
Midfielder Yves Bissouma must prove Mali boss wrong with his performances at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Despite Bissouma’s struggles in recent months, his performances as of late haven’t been too disappointing from a statistical point of view.
During Spurs’ 3-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage (16 March), the former Brighton man completed 93 per cent of his passes, 100 per cent of his long balls forward and dribbles while also winning 100 per cent of his aerial duels (Sofascore).
He also won four of his five ground duels and made two tackles, one interception and one clearance.
His display in the 4-0 win at Villa Park against Aston Villa (10 March) the week before was arguably even more impressive on paper
That afternoon he completed 97 per cent of his passes, won four of his six ground duels, made three tackles, and four clearances and played three accurate long balls forward from the four he attempted.
Based on those stats alone, some might wonder why Bissouma has not been selected for Mali.
However, a deeper dive can explain that. While his stats were mostly wonderful against Unai Emery’s side, he did make an error leading to a shot which could have cost his team.
It was a similar story against Marco Silva’s men last time out. While on paper his performance seemed impressive, his involvement in the build-up to Fulham’s second goal was incredibly poor.
No matter what Bissouma does in a match, it always feels as if he is one quick moment away from making a costly mistake, and instead of throwing his toys out of the pram, he must prove to Mali and Tottenham that he can cut these mistakes out of his game.
In other Tottenham news, a Spurs insider senses “frustration” after the Euro press slammed one of the club’s on-loan players this week.
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