Whenever Moussa Sissoko is interviewed by the French press he is always asked if he would like to move to a bigger club than Newcastle and that gives the 26 year-old the chance of saying he wants to play Champions League football at some point in his career.
Moussa Sissoko in training at Newcastle
There’s probably no way he can do that at Newcastle, especially when there’s a chance that England may have their allocation to the Champions League cut to three clubs because of poor results in the competition over the last three seasons.
Moussa Sissoko has not been in his best form for Newcastle so far this season and Steve McClaren has addressed that today:
“He’s obviously very ambitious and that’s great but like everybody else who is ambitious, I’m sorry but you have to perform every week to a certain standard and he knows that.”
“I’ve had lots of chats with him and he seems to be committed. But in terms of performance, I’m sure he admits himself he could do better.”
“His work for the team, his stats and his running, all that high intensity, is more than he was doing last season. So he’s certainly doing his job and putting the effort in.”
Moussa has again been called up for the French squad over the International break and manager Didier Deschamps is said to admire the midfielder and he has always been in his French squads.
Maybe Moussa should cut out talking about Champions League football until he plays at that standard for Newcastle.
That would seem to be a win-win for both Newcastle and Moussa Sissoko – at least in the short term.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
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24 comments so far
Charlietoon
Oct 3, 2015 at 12:05 AM
Comment #1It’s a bit sad isn’t it. Reminds me of Enrique, Ba and Nzogbia. It’s been a while since a player that saw themselves with a massive destiny left NUFC and went onto anything, apart from Remy who has a medal but rarely a start.
mattyNUFC
Oct 3, 2015 at 12:42 AM
Comment #2charlie,
sad? not entirely. fans wanted Jose and Ba to stay. I think Moussa would be hard pressed to find even 25% of fans who would keep him over 12mil. In form he’s worth that much. maybe. but if we adjudge him on his full NUFC career, he’s in the 6-8mil range.
the sooner we get rid, the better, even if his performances do improve. we need more Kruls, Perezs and Mitros and less of Sissokos Thauvins (maybe a bit unfair so early on), Tiotes and Cisses
beermonkey
Oct 3, 2015 at 12:46 AM
Comment #3Charlie
didn’t caroll get a runners up or a winners medal for the fool while he was there
jimmysmith
Oct 3, 2015 at 12:48 AM
Comment #4It is good that our better players want to play for bigger sides. Helps to light a fire under the owner, if such a thing is indeed possible. The club’s ambitions have been more contentious under Ashley, in my view.. Hopefully that’s being remedied and the long list of players who’ve looked elsewhere for greater reward will no longer grow, and our better players will be more inclined to stay and pitch in. We’ve lost some terrific players under this owner, not so much because we’ve looked to sell, but because they’ve looked to leave.
Magpie Season
Oct 3, 2015 at 1:10 AM
Comment #5Only player I can think of that left us & has been playing regularly for a bigger club while also improving their reputation is James Milner.
Derek
Oct 3, 2015 at 1:18 AM
Comment #6Disappointed every time to see Sissoko start this season. He is not as good as he likes to think. Actually, most of the time we lose possession he is responsible. Perez or Thauvin should be starting on the RW instead of him. Or even give Wijnaldum a go on RW with De Jong in CM.
Derek
Oct 3, 2015 at 1:22 AM
Comment #7My team Vs City,
4-4-2 Diamond formation
Janmaat___Mbemba__Colo___Mbabu
_____________Colback____________
Wijnaldum________________Thauvin
_____________De Jong____________
_______Mitrovic_______Perez______
ilovetoon8788
Oct 3, 2015 at 1:22 AM
Comment #8Sissoko may go on to be a world class player but fact is he is piss poor and shows no effort in matches and disappears. I hope we cash in on him when we can and is value is still high.
We should not make the same mistake as we did with Tiote who should have been sold go Chelsea for 25m back then. Now we’d struggle to even get 2.5m.
First thing is dropping sissoko and playing another u21 player there. Who knows we might find another mbabu.
Our Toon
Oct 3, 2015 at 2:25 AM
Comment #9It was sissoko’s pace that got us the corner for the 2nd goal but let’s continue to moan about the likes of him, drive out one of only a handful of pacey ball carriers we have, after all most of you complain we have no pace as it is!! NICE!!
lesh
Oct 3, 2015 at 5:51 AM
Comment #10So we can assume that those so critical of Sissoko won’t be critical of Ashley if he’s sold soon? I doubt it, they’ll be out in force.
sing in the corner
Oct 3, 2015 at 6:25 AM
Comment #11I like these quotes from SM. To me, it shows he has man management skills beyond the reach of our recent managers (coaches). ‘…Seems to be committed..’ Love it. Talk about a veiled kick up the backside!
Sissoko is one of those sulky types in my opinion. Hopefully SM is the man who can unlock his ability again – he can be a huge player for us, we’ve seen the glimpses so we know its in there.
sing in the corner
Oct 3, 2015 at 6:40 AM
Comment #12On the flip side of the attitude debate…enjoyed watching Mbabu the other night. His desire and commitment was out of this world! Extremely raw though. As a defender in the past it was hard to watch some of it,even through my fingers. He kept getting the wrong side of his man when needing to tackle…prem attackers will be licking their lips, just need to get in the box and it’s penalty time! Of course, he was playing on the wrong side of the pitch for him which explains things a bit.
But hey I’m not having a go at the kid, it was an outstanding debut. It should give SM confidence to stick a young un in from the fringes when we need to, or when they show better attitude than the current 1st teamers. Good for all concerned.
welshgeordie9
Oct 3, 2015 at 6:45 AM
Comment #13Our Toon
Unfortunately a lot of people moan for the sake of moaning, so of course they will do it with the likes of sissoko, some already doing it with thauvin, wish people give him time.
welshgeordie9
Oct 3, 2015 at 6:48 AM
Comment #14Anyway 2-0 win for us today. Without kompany they don’t look good at the back, so hopefully mitrovic and Perez will cause them problems.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Oct 3, 2015 at 6:48 AM
Comment #15I hope Siem will be given a tea go soon so be can get him up to speed…
…will benefit Newcastle in the long run!
Obertan being injured should prove to be an opportunity (but probably missed) for us as well.
Just need discard that 4-2-3-1 all together.
sing in the corner
Oct 3, 2015 at 6:53 AM
Comment #162.0 Welsh?
I like your optimism. but i think we will need to score at least twice to get anything. can’t see city not scoring.
ilovetoon8788
Oct 3, 2015 at 6:55 AM
Comment #17@ourtoon
Quit being delusional about sissoko. He had nothing to do with our 2nd goal. Even if he did his overall contribution in the last 30 games for us has been disgusting.
Better if he’s dropped or sold.
SUTTY1978
Oct 3, 2015 at 7:14 AM
Comment #18Sissoko’s problem this season doesnt seem to be attitude or desire, he’s working hard on the pitch, in some of the games he’s been the only player pushing us forward. His problem has been passing and losing possession. In the game vs Chelsea he was the worst passer in the premier league for that week, he had something like 57% accuracy.
Considering McClarens alleged desire for a passing team but also a desire to build a team around Sissoko, there seems to be a major disconnect in reasoning.
Sissoko only fits into a counter attacking side, in fact a lot of our players do as they’re hopeless at passing. Either change the style or change most of the players.
SUTTY1978
Oct 3, 2015 at 7:16 AM
Comment #19Our second goal against Chelsea was all about Mbabu. He chased Hazard from one side of the pitch to the other while our experienced defenders stood there and watched, he eventually won the ball and 3 seconds later we had the corner
SUTTY1978
Oct 3, 2015 at 7:21 AM
Comment #20I see McClaren is planning on going out all guns blazing against city
“If Jack doesn’t make it, we can put Gini (Georginio Wijnaldum) inside, and Gouffran’s played central midfield before,” said McClaren.
“Gouffran’s also played also on the left-hand side before, and (Gabriel) Obertan’s out with a hamstring.
“We’ll have to shuffle them. The decision is whether to start Ayoze (Perez) on the left-hand side and play a 4-5-1 away from home.”
Wow, looking forward to this attacking display….
ilovetoon8788
Oct 3, 2015 at 7:23 AM
Comment #21We’ll struggle today but as long as the team puts in effort I wouldn’t mind another defeat.
SUTTY1978
Oct 3, 2015 at 7:29 AM
Comment #228788 Thats probably what McClaren is saying to the players as well. “Just keep it to less than three and the fans will be alright with that”
We should go out looking to get three points in every game regardless of the opposition. We have been beaten many times by smaller teams who have given it a go against us. If they had just set up to keep a tight margin of defeat then we would probably have won a cup by now!
brklyngeordie
Oct 3, 2015 at 7:47 AM
Comment #23Must say a little surprise how the frustration with Sissoko seems to be majority thought I was in minority maybe 50/50 for a while.. Being said his best asset is speed his use of size is poor cause dribbling is not good and his aerial abilities leave a lot to be desired passing poor as well how he makes France squad is beyond me would gladly bring back Ben Arfa over this guy 7 days a week Cabaye as well give me Cisse and Tiote on top form over Moussa top form any day
brklyngeordie
Oct 3, 2015 at 7:53 AM
Comment #24With all I said about Moussa I’ll tell you this he is better then De Jong why any of us hold out hope for him his ludacris his time for us ended before it started again Ben Arfa any day of the week over him we should have NEVER distanced ourselves from him this is one thing that I will never forgive Pardumb for