Sissoko "Outburst"!

[Nic83]

He can **** right off if he wants.

[Red_Polo]

i read the whole article and it came across as a player very respectful of his manager and his club. a young player frustated by the lack of playing time not knowing that the sharks in the media live for days like this

He can **** right off if he wants.

One person was led by the sensational title, the other by the player's quotes, hmmm...which could be which

[Revo]

One person was led by the sensational title, the other by the player's quotes, hmmm...which could be which

kinnell ved you know thats too deep for me man

[Nic83]

One person was led by the sensational title, the other by the player's quotes, hmmm...which could be which

Yes yes, I confess!!

[dww]

I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at in the part I emboldened, but overall I'm struggling to see any genuine attacking assets Momo has. All his strengths are defensive ones IMO.

My point is that as Rafa is very unlikely to deviate from his policy of having two CMs whose role is to give a platform for the rest of the team by controlling the game. Xabi and Mascher do this by lying deep and picking passes and breaking up attacks infront of the defence. Momo can break up play further up the pitch - the most vital points of any game are when possesion changes hands. If Momo can force the midfielders and defenders of other teams to give away the ball in dengerous areas then that is a bonus for our attack - as long as he is capable of passing to a player in the same coloured shirt as himself.

I don't think he will ever be splitting the defence with raking balls but then I doubt he will ever be guilty of attempting those long cros field passes which Mascher and Alonso seem to love which give the opposition a very good chance of an interception. I don't necissarily see playing Momo ahead of one of the holding players as a negative move.

[willa1975]

The end of his first season Momo showed he was capable of very neat short passing - which is all he needs.

I beg to differ with you...the problem is that when Momo plays alongside the likes of Alonso or Mascherano, he's the CM getting into advanced positions, where he looks about as comfortable as a fish on a bicycle. I don't know if it is his preference to get forward or if it's Rafa's idea (a bad one at that), but it simply doesn't work...the game against ManU at Anfield comes to mind.

If Momo stayed in the center of the park when we had the ball, then all he'd need would be to play simple 5-10-yard balls to a teammate. But, if you're getting the ball in attacking positions, you need to actually present some sort of attacking threat, or at least be able to find a teammate in a position to do something, neither of which Momo has proven himself capable of.

[El Jefecito]

I beg to differ with you...the problem is that when Momo plays alongside the likes of Alonso or Mascherano, he's the CM getting into advanced positions, where he looks about as comfortable as a fish on a bicycle. I don't know if it is his preference to get forward or if it's Rafa's idea (a bad one at that), but it simply doesn't work...the game against ManU at Anfield comes to mind.

If Momo stayed in the center of the park when we had the ball, then all he'd need would be to play simple 5-10-yard balls to a teammate. But, if you're getting the ball in attacking positions, you need to actually present some sort of attacking threat, or at least be able to find a teammate in a position to do something, neither of which Momo has proven himself capable of.

More post injury myopia.

[dww]

I beg to differ with you...the problem is that when Momo plays alongside the likes of Alonso or Mascherano, he's the CM getting into advanced positions, where he looks about as comfortable as a fish on a bicycle. I don't know if it is his preference to get forward or if it's Rafa's idea (a bad one at that), but it simply doesn't work...the game against ManU at Anfield comes to mind.

If Momo stayed in the center of the park when we had the ball, then all he'd need would be to play simple 5-10-yard balls to a teammate. But, if you're getting the ball in attacking positions, you need to actually present some sort of attacking threat, or at least be able to find a teammate in a position to do something, neither of which Momo has proven himself capable of.

See my point was that for a while he did at the end of his first season (I suspect not coincidentally when we went on a long unbeaten run and started scoring goals) pass the ball short and neat to other players who were up supporting. If you win the ball high up the pitch, the same as infront of the defence, if you have options a short ball to a player of better attacking skill is perfectly acceptable. Which you seem to admit yourself.

This season I would agree he has looked paniced and failed to do that - if that is to be the standard of his play then he needs to leave. If he returns to his best form he is a big asset.

[Red_Polo]

My point is that as Rafa is very unlikely to deviate from his policy of having two CMs whose role is to give a platform for the rest of the team by controlling the game. Xabi and Mascher do this by lying deep and picking passes and breaking up attacks infront of the defence. Momo can break up play further up the pitch - the most vital points of any game are when possesion changes hands. If Momo can force the midfielders and defenders of other teams to give away the ball in dengerous areas then that is a bonus for our attack - as long as he is capable of passing to a player in the same coloured shirt as himself.

I don't think he will ever be splitting the defence with raking balls but then I doubt he will ever be guilty of attempting those long cros field passes which Mascher and Alonso seem to love which give the opposition a very good chance of an interception. I don't necissarily see playing Momo ahead of one of the holding players as a negative move.

Ok I agree he does that brilliantly when on form, but that's still him winning the ball - a defensive asset. I don't doubt he can be a very useful player, and as I say I'd not actively be looking to sell him. But some people are suggesting he has the potential to be one of the best in the world and that just isn't the case for me.

Comparison with the passing of our other CMs is not really favourable in my eyes, players like Xabi will as you say play higher risk balls but they have a greater potential reward and those players still end up with better pass completion stats. Momo is a good fourth choice option for us, but he is very definitely fourth choice and he's not going to progress beyond that IMO.

[kopash]

Agree totally. Momo is most useful in games when we want to limit the damage opposing midfields can do to us. Those amount to 4-5 games most a season. He is wasted in games against "lesser" sides. Whilst I don't want hm to leave if he is happy as a squaddie, I would cash in IF it helped us in a part-exchange deal or gave Rafa more money if we are short.