Yves Bissouma vs Watford (H) 21/22 Analysis


This is a reupload of a thread I posted on threads around early/mid July time. I figured I’d post it here as it’s a bit easier to manage on here and I can flesh it out a bit more.

Yves Bissouma was one of the most productive defensive-minded midfielders in the premier league during his spell with Brighton. Under Antonio Conte, Bissouma’s confidence took a massive knock. In large part this was due to Spurs generally being fairly toxic that season and he wasn’t really able to nail down a starting spot due to injuries and not really suiting a box to box midfield role.
In this game — and in general during his spell at the Amex — the Malian midfielder combined good defensive awareness, sneaky interceptions and showed his capability to dribble out of pressure.

At the end of the match he was given the player of the match award for his defensive contributions in the midfield as he made 10 tackles and interceptions (5 of each as shown in the thumbnail) which completely disrupted Watford’s attack. He also made the assist that set up Brighton’s second goal, by picking Tom Cleverley’s pocket near the Watford goal as the midfielder wasn’t aware that Bissouma was charging into win the ball behind him. He then set Neal Maupay 1v1 with the Watford keeper, who then made it to 2–0 to Brighton.
Even though he’s not the strongest aerial presence (something that is not massively important to his game) he showed good composure and didn’t fall into the usual head tennis trap by patiently chesting the ball down and moving the ball on.
Here you can see how he helped Brighton retain possession when Sanchez was pressed by faking his presser and was able to move the ball on to continue the Brighton buildup. This is a part of his game that I didn’t really notice as much watching some of his Brighton games, but it’s something that has become much more prominent in the 23/24 season, as he’s become absolutely crucial for Spurs since this originally was written.
All around, Bissouma was very good playing in a double pivot with Adam Lallana in this game, and he’ll likely be used as a lone 6 this season for Spurs. Overall this was a good example of his ball retention and how disruptive he can be when defending in the midfield.

Evidently as I’m reuploading this, he’s been absolutely exceptional for Spurs under Ange Postecoglou. He is indeed playing as a 6 in a much more attacking Spurs side compared to last season (22/23). Against Brentford in the first game of the season, he also won the player of the match award for being at the heart of Spurs moving the ball from their own half up the pitch by being impossible to dispossess.

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