There’s been a lot of change at Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
Ange Postecoglou was appointed as the club’s new manager and those in charge of recruitment went about furnishing the former Celtic boss with players to suit his system. James Maddison, Micky Van de Ven, Monor Solomon and Guglielmo Vicario were all signed. Destiny Udogie returned from his loan spell with Udinese too.
Then, on the eve of the Premier League’s return, Harry Kane left to join Bayern Munich.
Kicking off the new campaign against Brentford, Spurs had a new shape, a new captain and a new style. Yet it was someone who signed for the club over 12 months ago who caught the eye.
Yes, James Maddison finished with two assists having created six chances on his debut, but it was Yves Bissouma who really put his stamp on things for the away side.
The 26-year-old, wearing the No. 8 shirt for the first time in a competitive match for Spurs, attempted 116 passes against Brentford. Only William Saliba (130), Lewis Dunk and Thiago Silva (both 118) attempted more this weekend. Bissouma was the metronome in the middle for Postecoglou, finishing the game with a pass success rate of 92.2%.
He also made the second most successful dribbles this weekend, with five of the six attempted, that more than Arsenal (4) and Manchester City (3) managed. The former Brighton midfielder managed to strike a balance between progressive and safe in his place, ensuring Spurs kept hold of the ball when they needed to.
Bissouma also won nine of his 12 ground duels, recovered the ball on seven occasions and made four interceptions in the new-look Spurs side. His performance earned him the Sky Sports Player of the Match award.
🎯 No midfielder made more accurate passes than Yves Bissouma (107) in the first round of Premier League fixtures pic.twitter.com/YESI1yYS7C
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) August 15, 2023
Spurs fans had every right to be wondering where this version of the player was last season. He moved to the club from Brighton in a deal believed to be worth £30m. Having made 62 Premier League appearances in his final two seasons with the Seagulls, Bissouma was limited to just 10 starts last term and he managed to appear in a grand total of 1,003 minutes in the English top-flight.
At the start of the season, Antonio Conte claimed the Mali international was having issues adapting following his move. The Italian tactician said: "The only player that is struggling a bit with the tactical aspect is Bissouma, but also he is improving a lot in every aspect.
"I am sure when we start again and play 12 games, for sure he is another player I can count on but I try to take the best decision for the player because I want to protect the player. At the same time, I want to protect the team and everybody. For sure we know very well when we start again to play 12 games in one month, you have to be ready. You have to be ready because I need all my players."
An ankle fracture in mid-February ruled him out for 12 matches but even prior to that, Conte didn’t trust him. He was limited to brief cameos off the bench against Arsenal, Fulham and City having not made a start since the New Year’s Day 2-0 loss to Aston Villa.
Upon his return to the first team following the injury lay-off, Spurs had parted ways with Conte and Bissouma even missed Cristian Stellini’s interim spell in charge. He did start the final two games of the season under Ryan Mason.
The new No. 8 has the potential to be a key part of the new-look Postecoglou system. Bissouma went a little under the radar this summer following an underwhelming 2022/23 campaign, but it wasn’t long ago that he was being linked with most of the big six in the Premier League and it was considered a huge coup when Spurs signed him.
With Rodrigo Bentancur not expected back until early 2024, Bissouma would make the deep-lying role in this Tottenham team his own. If his performance against Brentford is an indication of things to come, he could be one of the surprises of the season.
