Very good player. Still think we will do better with him in a back 4. Im not convinced of this 3-5-2 business. I think once Johnson is back we will be able to have better balance.
Luddite.
A little vid of the young Cissokho from around the time of his Lyon transfer in '09, when he'd just exploded on the European big-boys scene at Porto, and suddenly had all these massive clubs like Milan and OL after him:
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/M6tOlv1GnoM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/M6tOlv1GnoM</a>]]>Yes, it's going on half a decade since all the good stuff there, and he hasn't really consistently impressed at either OL or Valencia, but he's still got all that pace and power to fly for us at wingback, especially considering that mean bedrock trio we will(?) have covering his behind. You just wanna see that youthful fearless drive and adventure back again, with the speed and stamina to recover the ball when lost & get up and down that line for 90+ minutes, and hopefully enough presence of mind serve up a decent final ball more often than not (although we won't need precision-cut Beckham specials planted right on the SaS' heads - both of them are evidently pretty shit in that respect
- just need those fizzed-in low chancers that they can trap/tap quickly before defences can act).
I'd much rather have attack-minded Cissokho-types at wingback than fullback to be honest - Glen wouldn't be exposed quite so much either when going on his regular forays (as long as he stops just running into people). Occasional lapses in concentration aside, Jose's a pretty solid defensive leftback, but we simply demand more in those wide slots than he seems able to provide. I actually really like the daft bugger, but he's probably best kept as a capable squad option if at all.
Johnson-Toure-Agger-Sakho-Cissokho has to get a run-out at some point, it just
feels too right now not to try it when everyone's fully fit. Two massive badass lefty Frenchies whose names both end in 'kho' on one side, with two cute charming smooth brothers (who could each effortlessly rock a rakish trilby) on the other, with a cool copiously-inked ball-playing Biker-Viking the cherry on top (in the middle) - that's what I call balance!
