Champions League Fallout: Tottenham Hotspur’s Moussa Sissoko blames formation

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Moussa Sissoko thinks the tactics deployed by Mauricio Pochettino put his squad at a disadvantage against Bayern Munich. The 30-year-old said that he thought the 4-4-2 diamond set-up put too much stress on the Spurs in an interview with RMC (as captured by the Evening Standard).

Sissoko attributed some of Tottenham Hotspur’s struggles to the alignment set forth by Mauricio Pochettino and the physical toll it exacted on the players against a team like Bayern Munich:

We get tired too quickly physically when we play with a diamond midfield.

Sissoko did not stop there, however, as he also indicated that he felt Tottenham Hotspur packed it in too early:

We gave up too quickly.

Veteran defender Toby Alderweireld chose to focus his attention on helping Tottenham Hotspur find a way out of funk that it is in:

Sometimes you’re up there and sometimes you’re in the corner where you get slapped. But you have to fight a way out of the corner. And that’s the moment we’re in now.

Everybody cares, and we’ve been in difficult situations before and every time we come out, and this is very difficult, but like I said, we will come out of it. It’s important to know what is the reality and how everybody’s committed to the club – and it’s a shame sometimes people don’t see how much effort we as players put in this club. We are having our commitment questioned. But it is nothing to do with this. You know, nothing, nothing.

While things do not seem to going well, Tottenham Hotspur is far too talented to write off at this stage even if there is some locker room dismay.