Yves Bissouma Putting It All Together For Tottenham?
A positive, noteworthy Premier League appearance by Yves Bissouma for Tottenham in mid-October, could easily serve to be a turning point in the player’s career. Having been signed by the Lilywhites in the summer of 2022, Tottenham fans really hadn’t got to see the best of the defensive midfielder.
As a substitute in a victory over Everton, Bissouma influenced the outcome of the match hugely. It was because of an impressively assured performance. It was a performance that came about after head coach Antonio Conte had made a complete tactical change of his formation to bring Bissouma into the action.
No Richarlison – No Problem As Yves Bissouma Shines
Tottenham’s Premier League home match with Everton was still goalless at the halftime break. But the Lilywhites had trodden a fine line a couple of times. Quick Everton counterattacks had caught them on the break a couple of times. Tottenham could easily have been behind at the halftime whistle. Fortunately for Spurs, the Toffees had not brought their shooting boots with them.
Tottenham survived until the break. Their plans to kick on afterwards however, appeared to come unravelled soon after the restart. Forward Richarlison had to be taken off with an injury. Instead of turning to one of the attacking players on his bench, head coach Antonio Conte decided on a surprise move. He brought on a defensive-minded player.
He skipped over the options of Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil, both of who could have filled in a wider role as a replacement for Richarlison. Conte instead opted for Bissouma. That came with a change of system as the Liywhites went to a 3-5-2 set-up, the Mali international slotting into a holding role.
Yves Bissouma Takes Control
It was a very quietly assured performance by Bissouma when he came on. It changed the entire game. Everton barely got a look in after the substitution as Spurs pushed on to claim a 2-0 victory. The win saw them keep up their momentum inside the top three of the Premier League table.
Bissouma was just in the right place at the right time throughout his half-hour on the pitch. At one point he cut out a big chance for an Everton breakaway as the Toffees tried to pull back an equaliser in the match after Harry Kane had opened the scoring for the Lilywhites with a spot kick.
Bissouma closed out the game with a 100% passing accuracy record to his name. Even more tellingly perhaps is that Everton didn’t have a shot on target in the second half of the match. It was a big Bissouma performance. But what could it mean for Tottenham?
Conte Now Has Options
Suddenly Antonio Conte will be looking at his squad and thinking of the huge positives that Bissouma’s performance brought to the table. He offered rock-solid stability as his key influence. But it also meant that Tottenham’s dominance in the middle of the park grew in an offensive capacity.
With Yves Bissouma holding as an extra body in the Tottenham midfield, Spurs were no longer outnumbered there. It allowed their other midfielders to get forward more and influence the game. It also allowed Son Heung Min to come into a more central position and be a bigger threat instead of being out wide.
Under Conte, Tottenham have mostly operated with two men in the middle of the park and not three. Sometimes the unexpected can uncover new, unexpected benefits. This could be one for Spurs who will have to cope for a while now with Richarlison.
The Brazilian left the Tottenham Hostpur Stadium on crutches. He may miss the FIFA World Cup because of the injury. It also may force Spurs into a permanent formation change.
Yves Bissouma Handling The Pressures
Tottenham purchased Bissouma from Brighton in the summer of 2022. Bissouma has struggled to get into the starting line-up for his new club. The new season was already deep into October and Bissouma had only made two starts. The pressure of being at a club that are contenders for a UEFA Champions League spot are high. They are tricky to handle.
But now the timing could be right for Bissouma to prove himself. Lucas Moura didn’t replace Richarlison against Everton because of a lack of match fitness. Conte didn’t trust Gil’s inexperience. Exciting Swedish winger Dejan Kulusevski who has been in tremendous form for Spurs is currently out injured.
So there are players to come back who could change the lay of the land for Bissouma and Tottenham. But the more he grows into his role and influences big games, the better Tottenham’s bid for a top four finish in the Premier League will be.
Antonio Conte Influence
There is another factor in why the starts for Yves Bissouma haven’t quite been happening. That’s down to Antonio Conte. Of course, the boss has the final say in who gets in the starting lineup anyway.
But the nature of Conte’s management style could also be a factor in it all. It’s no secret that Conte demands a lot of his players, particularly on the physical side of things. The Italian has won Serie A and Premier League titles, so he knows what he is doing.
Conte’s arrival at Tottenham probably shook up the players quite a bit. He brought a ton of extra physical demands. The squad was put through its paces over the summer as well, with Conte and the late Gian Piero Ventrone pushing the players for deeper wells of endurance and speed.
This season it looks to be really paying off. Spurs have started the season strongly and look like a very physically fit side. Along with his high standard for high-intensity physical output on the pitch, Conte is a demanding tactician as well.
He reportedly drills players hard on tactics. It may take longer to get them through to some players and than others. In one of his press conferences this season, stated that clearly. Conte said that he has been trying to “accelerate” the tactical understanding of Bissouma and his role at Tottenham.
Lille Takes A Chance on Yves Bissouma
The first professional opportunity in Europe for Yves Bissouma came when French scouts picked up on him during his performances for Mali at the 2016 African Nations Championship. He was playing for AS Real Bamako at the time, a club in the Malian top flight.
Enough was seen of the Mali international for Ligue 1 side Lille to hand him a three-year deal later that year. His time in the French league didn’t last long as he was soon offered a chance to move across the Channel.
A Bissouma Brighton deal was done during the 2018 summer off-season, bringing the player to the south coast. Three matches into the 2018/19 Premier League season he was given his first start by the club. But there were some bubbling disciplinary problems on the pitch surrounding him.
Seeing Red
Very early in the 2020/21 Premier League season, Bissouma was flashed a red card against Newcastle. While Brighton won the match 3-0, Bissouma’s boot in the face of Jamal Lewis was an unsavoury moment in the match.
Later in the season, Bissouma racked up his 10th yellow card of the campaign, meaning a suspension. At times, despite his growing appearances with Brighton, Yves Bissouma looked like a player who still needed to cut his teeth in terms of handling the pressure of life in the Premier League.
It’s perhaps a touch of that which saw him have a slow start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Leaving Brighton, the Bissouma Tottenham deal was for £30m to take the player to London on a four-year contract in June 2022.
Premier League player arrested
Further blights on his copybook came away from the pitch during his time at Brighton. Bissouma was pulled up for a couple of speeding offences during his time with the Seagulls, which eventually led to him receiving bans.
Then the Brighton player arrested sports news broke in late 2021. It was Bissouma, who was taken from a nightclub before being bailed. An investigation over an alleged assault against a woman continued right through to June 2022 when he was cleared of allegations.
But it was another demanding time for the player. The Bissouma arrest news and ongoing investigation, would have been big distractions from what he was trying to achieve on the pitch.
A Brighter Road Ahead?
The Yves Bissouma celebration that was reported from the end of Tottenham’s league win over Everton, cast a brighter light on the player. Walking down the tunnel at the end of the successful match, Bissouma was seen jumping on the back of teammate Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in a big celebration.
Bissouma then faced up to a camera, elatedly saying “Come on, yes! Three points.” It was an out pour of emotion, carried perhaps on a wave of frustration being released. Furthermore, it wasn’t an FA Cup Final win, or a high-pressure Champions League fixture. It’s not likely to be one of the biggest football results in his career.
It was a 2-0 home success in the Premier League after a terribly scrappy first 45-minute in which the game went absolutely nowhere. But the celebration and reaction to the win by Bissouma certainly paints a clear picture. It was the kind of reaction that a player who needed just that kind of performance, who needed to have had such a big influence on a result would rightly have had.
