Moussa Sissoko interview: Tottenham midfielder explains how Jose Mourinho has inspired his search for goals

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Sissoko explains how Mourinho has given belief to everyone at the club.
Getty Images
Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP10 December 2019

It has taken just three weeks with Jose Mourinho for Moussa Sissoko to go from one of the worst finishers in the Premier League to a genuine goal-threat.

Sissoko scored for the second time in three matches in Tottenham's 5-0 win over Burnley on Saturday, following up from his acrobatic finish against Bournemouth a week earlier and prompting chants of, "He scores when he wants," from the home fans.

Before the Cherries, he had gone 69 Premier League matches – a period spanning the entirety of last season – without scoring, or even coming close.

"[Mourinho] has given belief to everyone," Sissoko told Standard Sport, when asked what has changed. "Everyone knows we were in a difficult situation and the confidence was very low, so he tried to speak to everyone, to give everyone confidence, to be close to everyone.

"He knows I'm a player who likes to go box-to-box. I can score a few goals every year, so he said to me to just play my game, to go forward when I can and see if I can score. I scored because I was in the box. Maybe in the past I was deeper and didn't try. Hopefully I can score a few more goals."

In Pictures | Tottenham vs Burnley | 07/12/2019

1/24

While Sissoko is benefitting from Mourinho's management, the Frenchman does not entirely see eye-to-eye with his new manager when it comes to his best position. In the wake of defeat at Manchester United, Mourinho was adamant that Sissoko is best in the attacking three behind Harry Kane, rather than as one of his two deeper midfielders.

"I don’t think he’s a midfield player in a core position, No6 or a double 6. I think the best position for Moussa is when the team plays with a positional midfielder and he has freedom to go, or from the right like he did against Bournemouth," Mourinho said.

While happy to play anywhere, Sissoko feels happiest centrally. "I haven't spoken to him about [my position] but I saw [what he said]," he said. "He's the manager, so if he says to me to play as a No6 or at the front or on the right side, I will do my best. I know I'm capable to play every role. At the end [against Burnley], I even played right-back. But to be in the middle of the pitch is my best position. If it's No6, No8, No10, it doesn't matter, but I like to be in the centre. For the team I will do everything the manager asks me."

Wherever he has played, Sissoko has been short of opportunities to link-up with his France teammate Tanguy Ndombele, who has been hampered by fitness problems in a mixed start to life in England. Ndombele, 22, who joined Spurs for a club-record £65million in July, has blown hot and cold at Spurs and he will miss Wednesday's Champions League dead-rubber against Bayern Munich with a groin strain.

Sissoko is all too aware of the difficulties of settling in England, and specifically at a club like Spurs, and has no doubt his friend will come good soon.

Sissoko confident is countryman will thrive at Spurs.
AFP via Getty Images

"It's never easy to perform straight away, especially for him because he's so young," Sissoko said. "He needs to understand a lot of things. It's a big change compared to France and he needs time. I'm not going to compare him with myself because I was at Newcastle. But when I came to Tottenham, it was difficult. But I kept trying to give my best, to train well until I could perform. It took a few times for me to perform but in the end I did it. It will be the same for him. We know he has a lot of quality. He already showed it in a few games. He will improve week-by-week and I'm sure he will bring a lot for this club.

"I told him that. I speak with him every day. In the changing room he's sitting next to me. I'm always with him, and trying to help him. I know it's important to have someone close to you because his English as well is not good yet, so he needs someone close to him who can help him with everything. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm not worried. I know he will perform, do well and everyone will talk about him soon."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in