Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma looks back to his best as he shines for Mali at African Cup of Nations
It has been a while since Yves Bissouma was seen in a Tottenham shirt, and the midfielder’s recent performance for Mali showed fans what they have been missing.
After a difficult debut season in North London, Bissouma made a tremendous start to life under Postecoglou in the first few games of the 2023/24 campaign.
Nonetheless, his form in recent months has dropped off, not at all helped by his two red cards within as many months.
The former Brighton man was sent off for two bookable offences in the 1-0 win at Luton Town on Saturday 7 October, and this moment seemed to impact the 27-year-old negatively.
Upon returning to the team following a one-match suspension, he struggled to find his feet again in the matches which followed, with his declining form most noticeable in the 3-3 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 3 December.
Throughout this match, he won just three of his eight ground duels, gave possession away 14 times, lost his one duel in the air and made a fatal error which led to City scoring (Sofascore).
As seen in the image above, Bissouma found himself surrounded by City shirts deep inside the Tottenham half, with a pass to Pedro Porro on which would have relieved the pressure on his team.
Instead of releasing the ball, Bissouma tried to dribble past Rodri, who was able to tackle his midfield counterpart, leading to a City attack which resulted in Jack Grealish putting the hosts ahead.
It was a needless mistake and characterised the player’s drop-off in form.
He began to slowly find his feet again in the 4-1 win against Newcastle United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a week later (10 December). Bissouma put his poor performance behind him and put in his best shift in a Spurs shirt in months, winning 10 of his 14 ground duels, succeeding in his one dribble attempt while also making eight tackles.
Nonetheless, just as he looked to be turning a corner, Bissouma picked up his second red card of the season in the following match, this time it was a straight sending-off in the 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Friday 15 December.
As seen in the image above, he arrived high and late with his challenge on Ryan Yates and was shown his marching orders as a result.
This led to a four-match suspension, which has now been served, although Bissouma is still unavailable for selection as he is now competing with Mali at the African Cup of Nations, and in his nation’s opening game at the tournament, Bissouma reminded Tottenham of the levels he is capable of hitting in what was his first competitive appearance in over a month.
He started the 2-0 in Group E against South Africa, featuring for 58 minutes before he was replaced by Lassana Coulibaly. While he wasn’t on the pitch for either of the goals scored by his country, his performance was still a confident one.
Bissouma completed 93 per cent of his passes, with one of those being key, played one accurate long ball forward, won seven of his nine ground duels and made six tackles and two interceptions.
It is the type of display Postecoglou will hope to see more of upon the Spurs man’s return to Hotspur Way, and the Australian will hope for his player to continue impressing at the competition, which would hopefully allow him to rediscover his confidence.
Mali will be in action once again when they take on Tunisia in their second match of Group E.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs might as well throw in the towel after Sky Sports News provided an update ahead of their FA Cup clash with Manchester City.
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