View: Ange must never repeat experiment with Tottenham ace after 20% int'l display

Yves Bissouma has experienced a wild start to the 2024/25 campaign, from being banned internally by Tottenham to scoring a screamer against Everton.

Despite being known for his defensive capabilities, fans and Ange Postecoglou are now very aware of his eye for goal, especially after firing a dazzler past Jordan Pickford.

Normally joined by James Maddison in the middle of the park, there is never a need for the 28-year-old Mali international to get forward, with Son Heung-Min, Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson to hit the back of the net, plus Dominic Solanke when he returns from injury.

However, the Mali head coach decided to play Bissouma in a much more advanced role as they drew 1-1 with Mozambique in an African Cup of Nations qualification match on Friday (6 September).

It seemed to work out to an extent, given the Spurs midfielder scored from outside the box to earn Mali a well-deserved equaliser, but Postecoglou must never implement that at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham must not be swayed by Yves Bissouma goal for Mali

While he did hit the back of the net, the 28-year-old unleashed seven shots during his 89 minutes on the pitch, with only 20 per cent of them actually hitting the target [FotMob].

Bissouma is far more important in the defensive-midfield area, or even as a box-to-box player crashing into the penalty area at the final moment, but he is not built to play the same role as Maddison.

It seems a huge waste to deploy him further up the pitch, and that was made obvious by his 33 per cent win rate in ground duels and not entering into any attempted tackles.

He ranks in the bottom 39 percentile for non-penalty goals among midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year, as per FBref, the bottom nine percentile for assists, and the bottom 22 percentile for touches in the attacking penalty area.

Given these statistics, partnered with his top 71 percentile ranking for progressive carries, top 94 percentile for tackles and top 78 percentile for interceptions, Postecoglou must never adopt the same tactics as the player’s national team head coach.

In other Tottenham news, Djed Spence’s career under Ange Postecoglou looks done after a recent club announcement.

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The post View: Ange must never repeat experiment with Tottenham ace after 20% int'l display appeared first on Tottenham Hotspur News.