Score: Newcastle 1 Southampton 2 (Gouffran, Elia x2)
Scouted player rating: 5.5/10
If today’s showing was anything to go by then Arsene Wenger should stay well away from the Newcastle midfielder. The Gunners have been strongly linked with Sissoko, who has admitted he would be interested in a move to the Emirates. However his performance yesterday against Southampton was below par to say the least. It was a 90+ minutes or so littered with sloppy passes, heavy touches and anonymous spells as United succumbed to yet another defeat.
Sissoko had featured in the build up to the game as Newcastle’s man to stop and began like one worthy of such praise. A couple of decent early runs highlighted his strength and brute power. Although as the half went on, playing out of his preferred position on the left, he became more and more subdued. Nathaniel Clyne started to figure him out somewhat as he struggled to get on the ball or influence the game.
If anything he played worse in the second half. He started after the break in extremely quiet fashion and looked untidy on the ball. Newcastle just couldn’t get one of their undoubted key men into the game and when he did get on the ball he didn’t catch the eye – either playing a simple pass or giving the ball away. Southampton did a good job in handling him well but his touch and passing all afternoon were not up to the standard of a player rated so highly. He displayed a few nice touches at times but ultimately he was very disappointing.
Sissoko improved a little when moved into his preferred central position late on in the game, following the arrival of Sami Ameobi off the bench, managing to get more touches of the ball. However this only gave on lookers more of an opportunity to see how under par the French international was on the day. He completed a few passes but too many late on went astray or didn’t possess the the right weight, as Newcastle desperately tried to rescue a point.
His work rate wasn’t great either and his defensive contribution minimal. He picked a bad fixture to have an off day in front of the the Sky Sports camera and in the middle of a transfer window, in which he has been linked with some big clubs. The likes of PSG and Arsenal will be delaying any writing of cheques to Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, if they tuned in. It may have just been a one off and perhaps in his favoured position he could have influenced the game more if he had started there. Also strong transfer speculation may well have turned his head and you never know, this could easily have been his last game for the Toon Army. The hype surrounding the player may have died down somewhat after this particularly lacklustre performance. From what I have seen Morgan Schneiderlin, who unfortunately missed the game through injury, would be a far more suitable fit for Arsenal.