[Albion] Bissouma

[The Fifth Column]

It was very frustrating to watch his positioning today, showed some real moments of class early on but then faded somewhat and for someone with that amount of pace and skill I couldn't understand why he started to drift further and further back and was making numerous sideways and backwards passes instead of getting forward and playing the ball forward.

 

[stss30]

He had a positive start today with his pace and energy winning us the ball back on a couple of occasions. Problem with him is he always has one big error in him. When Stephens gives the ball away we tend to recover, the way Bissouma gave away the ball so lethargically won Southampton the game. He did the same in the Liverpool away game too.

 

[timbha]

his second half performance highlighted his immaturity, something we can't afford at this stage of the season. Why he took it on himself to go chasing for the ball when it was behind the Saints goal for a goal kick and then place it for the kick was comical, leaving the keeper with the easy and obvious option of wasting even more time by legitimately switching the kick to the other side. At the same time Bissouma was out of position.

And why did he drop further and further back as the game progressed? Yes he had more space but Saints were happy to let him have it there.

 

[GrizzlingGammon]

his second half performance highlighted his immaturity, something we can't afford at this stage of the season. Why he took it on himself to go chasing for the ball when it was behind the Saints goal for a goal kick and then place it for the kick was comical, leaving the keeper with the easy and obvious option of wasting even more time by legitimately switching the kick to the other side. At the same time Bissouma was out of position.

And why did he drop further and further back as the game progressed? Yes he had more space but Saints were happy to let him have it there.

He kept dropping back because the back 4 kept passing it sideways. Slowly and aimlessly.

Why Bissouma is being singled out I don't know.
There were 10 other hapless players in blue and white on the pitch at the same time.

 

[timbha]

Why Bissouma is being singled out I don't know.
There were 10 other hapless players in blue and white on the pitch at the same time.

I don't disagree (although Bernardo can be excused) but this thread is about Bissouma

 

[stss30]

He kept dropping back because the back 4 kept passing it sideways. Slowly and aimlessly.

Why Bissouma is being singled out I don't know.
There were 10 other hapless players in blue and white on the pitch at the same time.

Because he gifted them an easy counter attacking goal. Before that we were for the most part hopeless but defended pretty well.

 

[Icy Gull]

Looked absolute quality for the first 15 mins then he must have realised that attacking is not what we do

 

[METALMICKY]

Nobody covered themselves in glory today. There were some good moments from him today but as as someone has stated his bad can be very bad and costly as demonstrated by their goal. His bad is clearly based on naivety and an example being taj taking unrealistic shots when he should play the percentages. Thankfully this can only improve with more games and valuable experience.

 

[Seagull1989]

Thought Bissoumma was our best midfielder today, he got hold of the ball and ran with it but his shooting was poor

 

[timbha]

Thought Bissoumma was our best midfielder today, he got hold of the ball and ran with it but his shooting was poor

he didn't really have much to beat

 

[Acker79]

his second half performance highlighted his immaturity, something we can't afford at this stage of the season. Why he took it on himself to go chasing for the ball when it was behind the Saints goal for a goal kick and then place it for the kick was comical, leaving the keeper with the easy and obvious option of wasting even more time by legitimately switching the kick to the other side. At the same time Bissouma was out of position.

I don't think you can criticise him for that. Their goalkeeper would have used up more time collecting the ball and then walking back to the far side of the box anyway. Bissouma collecting the ball cut off some of his time wasting, he just should have placed it in the middle of the box - if he places it either end the keeper takes it to the other side, by placing it in the middle he halves the distance/time the keeper can waste picking a side.

 

[Justice]

Don’t get the big rave on about him, average player with a few tricks.

 

[Miami Seagull]

He has fantastic promise but has a clanger in him every game. Needs to work on his decision making and he could be an outstanding player for us. A way to go yet.

 

[timbha]

I don't think you can criticise him for that. Their goalkeeper would have used up more time collecting the ball and then walking back to the far side of the box anyway. Bissouma collecting the ball cut off some of his time wasting, he just should have placed it in the middle of the box - if he places it either end the keeper takes it to the other side, by placing it in the middle he halves the distance/time the keeper can waste picking a side.

collecting the ball when it's out of play isn't his job and leaves him way out of position with his team mates having to reorganise to cover. It looked like a crowd pleaser to me

 

[Acker79]

collecting the ball when it's out of play isn't his job and leaves him way out of position with his team mates having to reorganise to cover. It looked like a crowd pleaser to me

Nah. He puts the ball back cutting off some of the keeper's time wasting, and can use the rest of the keeper's time wasting to get back into position. Maybe if we had more than one ball boy at each end, it would be worth worrying about, but to me that instance is nothing to complain about.

 

[Acker79]

Nah. He puts the ball back cutting off some of the keeper's time wasting, and can use the rest of the keeper's time wasting to get back into position. Maybe if we had more than one ball boy at each end, it would be worth worrying about, but to me that instance is nothing to complain about.

And, while I do not believe this was in his thinking when he did it, by placing it on the keeper's favoured side, it forced him to move it to the left to waste time, resulting in him kicking it out of play gifting us a throw in.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

To be honest, he’s playing a different game to some of the players in that team alongside him. For large parts of today, he was carrying us, quite literally, up the pitch all on his own. We need to get better, more offensive players with pace and movement around him, not scold him for a bit of naivety.

 

[Lincoln Imp]

He kept dropping back because the back 4 kept passing it sideways. Slowly and aimlessly.

Why Bissouma is being singled out I don't know.
There were 10 other hapless players in blue and white on the pitch at the same time.

I don't know either. His attention slipped at the start of what could have been an aggressive attacking break but I forgive him for that, even though it led to the goal. Aggressive attacking breaks aren't the style of a Hughton team. Endless repeat triangles in the defensive half are more like it. Safer. There was a moment in the second half when the ball bounced kindly in midfield and we broke for goal, quickly. By the time the move broke down three players had arrived in the Saints box. Wow. Three. For the first time in 46 years I didn't see the final whistle. Bored into oblivion by a depressing afternoon of Hughtonball, I was having a coffee in the concourse, reflecting that I probably wouldn't bother going to Wembley next week if I hadn't already invested £300 in the venture.

Give Bissouma his run. At least he tries to make us happy.

 

[Kneon Light]

Thought he was fantastic first half but really poor in the second.
Needs to choose the better option at times.
Great potential but no-where near as good (yet) as some have been making him out to be.

 

[portslade seagull]

It was very frustrating to watch his positioning today, showed some real moments of class early on but then faded somewhat and for someone with that amount of pace and skill I couldn't understand why he started to drift further and further back and was making numerous sideways and backwards passes instead of getting forward and playing the ball forward.

Probably got told off by CH for daring to get forward. Must keep our shape and 10 man defence at all times