Tottenham might find right-back cover in Moussa Sissoko
By Ryan Wrenn
In a Tottenham win full of intriguing twists and stellar performances, Moussa Sissoko’s positioning was quietly one of the stories of the night.
When the lineups were announced before the match, Tottenham fans rightly supposed that Sissoko’s inclusion meant he would be deployed in his typical attacking midfield role.
To say that he hasn’t thrived there would be an understatement, so this wasn’t the best development. Not that the match meant anything really, but you would think that Mauricio Pochettino is smart enough not to make the same mistake twice or, rather, eight times.
What actually ended up occurring, though, was more promising and — to an extent — relieving.
The biggest problem ahead of the match was that Tottenham lacked a first team option at right-back. Both Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker were out injured, meaning that — most likely — Eric Dier would need to fill in as he has on occasion in the past.
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And, indeed, Dier was included in the lineup, thus confirming (at least temporarily) many people’s suspicions about how Spurs would line up.
After the whistle blew though, it was clear that something else was happening. Dier was the central component of a three man defense, with Toby Alderweireld out in a wide centre-back role. He would make forays forward, but the man who actually covered the right flank was none other than Sissoko himself.
This was an unexpected development, but not entirely without at least some precedent. Historically, Sissoko’s always been a two-way player, tilting toward attack but always dropping deep to help defend. At Newcastle he was even occasionally deployed in a box-to-box role with, effectively, is the full-back position shifted toward the center of the park.
His engine makes him a good — if not ideal — fit for this kind of role. It only made sense, in hindsight, that Pochettino might finally get him to play to these strengths.
And he did a perfectly adequate job! He hugged the touchline much like Trippier tends to, and cut inside when the opportunity presented itself much like Walker. He lacked the pace of both players, and still looked puzzled whenever he had the ball in Leicester’s third, but it was by some measure the best fit he’s found yet at Spurs.
We could fairly assume that this was a matter of expediency over anything else. Pochettino needed a right wide defender but didn’t want to sacrifice the fluidity of the 3-4-2-1 to make that happen. Sissoko was the band-aid that allowed Pochettino to play the way he wanted to play.
Leicester’s generally poor play made Sissoko shine brighter than he might of otherwise, but there was no denying that the experiment was a success.
The question now is, what does Pochettino do with this information?
Should Walker leave, as rumors suggest that he will, could Spurs survive with Trippier starting and Sissoko at backup? That certainly would be the most affordable option, and it would help ease the impression that Spurs comically overspent on a player they never really needed.
Next: Tottenham Player Ratings: away at Leicester
The risk is that Sissoko might not actually be a longer term solution should Trippier ever find himself out of the lineup. It’s one thing to field in a meaningless end-of-season match against Leicester, quite another to thrive there against Chelsea or Manchester City.
We likely won’t get a clear answer to any of these anytime soon. If Spurs convince Walker to stay, it’s likely that Sissoko’s path to the exit is a lot more clear. If they can’t though, Sissoko is suddenly an option that must be included in the club’s calculus.