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Moussa Sissoko


Skeletor
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Can't really blame the guy for getting visibly frustrated at times. He had almost (Perez) zero movement around him and had to force things himself to try to push us up the pitch. The lack of tactics was so apparent with the way we struggled to pass the ball to a guy in a positive forward moving position. Sissoko was one of the few who could still make something happen by using his individual skill & strenght to make a quick turn from a negative position and dash forward.

 

 

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He's French, of course he's going to sulk - especially when things were going as catastrophically as last season. The game against Liverpool when he got sent off to me was completely done on purpose, way more than Williamson against Leicester and even worse than Debuchy when Liverpool thrashed us 0-6.

 

With a new manager and things (so far) looking promising, we could yet see the best of Sissoko this season and I definitely wouldn't consider selling him.

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Despite some of his performances last season you really can't use it as a barometer on the true value of him to us.

Last season was an absolute s*** storm where we were an absolute shambles under Carver.

 

He still scored important goals for us and I think he would be a huge asset next season

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I'd drive him there myself for £18m. That's a crazy, crazy price for a player who can only play well in one role.

 

I said it earlier in this thread that those outside Newcastle will rate him a lot higher than the fans. £18m is indeed a good price if it's true. But we'll be weaker without him. I haven't seen Wijnaldum yet so have no idea whether he can do the job so I'll hold judgement on whether it's wise to sell just yet.

 

For all the critics though I will say this: try getting £18m for Ginger Jack who is joint top with goals and assists.

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Guest reefatoon

If he does go, I would like to see a midfielder brought in with a bit of height and presence. If we can find another player in the style/build of Hamann, then that would suit me down to the ground. He had a bit of everything and covered the whole pitch. He was just as good going forward as he was sitting deep. Was a quality player for us for just that one year.

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To add context to my point, Sissoko is a player who's only exceptional quality is his ability to drive directly at goal when picking up the ball on the counter attack. Thus, he is only one of our better players IF we are playing in a style set up wholly around his ability to be the ball carrier on the counter attack. For this, he needs to play as a #10, otherwise he won't be collecting the ball in areas he can be effective.

 

So, IF we are playing a counter attacking style with Sissoko as the #10, then yes, he will be one of our better players in that system. But he isn't good enough creatively to be a #10 when we are dominating games, he's an absolute liability defensively so cannot play as a CM (Playing here effectively nullifies the only thing that makes him good anyway), and he's at best reasonable as a right midfielder.

 

Based on that, for £18 million, I'd sell.

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No way is Sissoko a #10. Useful on the right hand of midfield. Probably best on the right side of a midfield 3 where he can start deep but make big runs forward towards the channel and basically cover the RB with lateral defensive movement/positioning.

 

He's great on the counter yes but essentially he's good at transitioning defensive positions into attacking situations. You don't have to play in a counter attacking style to do that, it's a generally useful attribute.

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Bad players end up at worse clubs and for low fees. That's generally the best indicator of a player's value no matter how much we debate it here.

True. There's a few factors though. Age. Nationality. Experience in a league. Desperateness of parties involved. But aye, it's a strong indicator especially over a few transfers.
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Our record for reinvestment is soooooooooooooo bad i'm astonished people want rid of anyone other than the usual Doofi, i.e. Obertan, Gouf, etc.

 

I'll use the word doofi, thanks for that.

 

Pleasure's mine.

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People quickly forget he was easily amongst our best performers for the first half of last season. After we somehow resisted cashing in during January he was pants. Maybe because he wanted to go, who knows. But I wouldn't sell him.

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The only scenario where we would willingly sell him is if he's unsettled and wants to go. Otherwise all the euphoria of signing Wijnaldum for £14.5m is premature if he is only coming in so we can cash in on Sissoko. Sell Obertan or Colback instead. We have got plenty of central midfielders, we aren't too flush with goal scoring midfielders who can operate on the right.

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The only scenario where we would willingly sell him is if he's unsettled and wants to go. Otherwise all the euphoria of signing Wijnaldum for £14.5m is premature if he is only coming in so we can cash in on Sissoko. Sell Obertan or Colback instead. We have got plenty of central midfielders, we aren't too flush with goal scoring midfielders who can operate on the right.

 

What do you class as a goal scoring midfielder? That's twice you've referred to him as that. He got 4 last year, hardly prolific.

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People quickly forget he was easily amongst our best performers for the first half of last season. After we somehow resisted cashing in during January he was pants. Maybe because he wanted to go, who knows. But I wouldn't sell him.

 

Same feelings really, it might not be a disaster to sell him if we bring in the right players, but I wouldn't do it if it was up to me. Everyone bar the real dross should get a fresh start this season.

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The only scenario where we would willingly sell him is if he's unsettled and wants to go. Otherwise all the euphoria of signing Wijnaldum for £14.5m is premature if he is only coming in so we can cash in on Sissoko. Sell Obertan or Colback instead. We have got plenty of central midfielders, we aren't too flush with goal scoring midfielders who can operate on the right.

 

What do you class as a goal scoring midfielder? That's twice you've referred to him as that. He got 4 last year, hardly prolific.

 

Hardly easy to score goals from midfield when you are apart of a team which hardly gets into the box. I'd hazard a guess that Frank Lampard in his prime would have some struggles recreating his usual totals under Pardew and Carver.

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