1) Bissouma
Before spitting on one’s hands and getting into the meat of the matter, one should probably clear one’s throat and make one of those dreadfully dull public service announcements, such as Bissouma, Dragusin, or anyone else being singled out for forensic analysis in this case does not mean that they are the main rotters of the piece.
To be sure, the guilt for yesterday’s fiasco might be divided neatly eleven ways. I chose Bissouma because, as the fires spread and the entire structure collapsed, the idea occurred to me that he was stinking out the area, but not any more than the others.
After stating who is accountable (all of them) and who would be welcome at AANP Towers in the coming weeks for a snifter and a few jovial backslaps (none of them), I’d like to talk a little bit about Bissouma. I suppose if this is the type of venue where a thesis requires one of those descriptive sub-headings, I’d go with “Bissouma: What the Dickens Was He Contributing?”.
After a promising first minute and a half in which we did not allow Fulham to touch the ball, things took a sharp turn, not so much downhill as over the edge of a cliff and into our collective death at the bottom. Fulham continued wandering within shot distance within our penalty area, seemingly whenever the mood struck them. And not only was it one of those free-entry binges, they seemed to meander into our holiest of holies in precisely the same manner in each time: viz., some chappie waiting outside the area would dink a diagonal for a midfield runner to canter forward without any of our lot anywhere near him.
Now, it’s one thing for the other team to play a pass with some dressing on it. Even though I’ve been a Spurs fan since birth, I can appreciate it when the opposing team unwraps some good things. However, the idea that everyone present should simply stand there and stare is completely absurd. Save the awe and wonder for the half-time conversation, I say. When a Fulham player pops one through the midfield and slaps it into the front line, everyone in the vicinity should be sprinting to their posts, with the extinguishment of imminent danger being the main priority.
To be clear, Bissouma was not the only Fulham player who slipped in and took shots in those early stages. Sarr and Dragusin, to mention a few, were also responsible for rocking back on their heels and watching events unfold around them rather than taking the initiative and piling in, or better yet, anticipating the danger and cutting it off before it spread wings.
But Bissouma was unquestionably one of the culpable parties, especially when Fulham scored their second goal – which felt like the coup de grâce – early in the second half, which appeared to ricochet in off the fellow’s thigh. When that Chap of the Fortunate Thing (who apparently calls himself Lukic) entered our penalty area, he was level with Bissouma, but our man chose a bad time to drift off, gazing around dreamily as the menace increased, and appearing to jog back on auto-pilot, enjoying the view a little too much, rather than busting a gut to keep up with (or overtake) that Lukic fiend.
Indeed, when Fulham won control about midway and knocked the ball into center circle zone, our midfield appeared to have cleared the entire area. Once again, Bissouma cannot be blamed alone, as there are at least two other midfielders and two inverted wing-backs whose job descriptions include bobbing around in that part of the pitch.
Nonetheless, Bissouma’s complete lack of midfield control throughout the game reflects poorly on him. Admittedly, job definitions in the Ange era are hazy, with the overall aim appearing to be to encourage everyone to roam off and explore whatever patch of land that strikes their eye; but, Bissouma is well recognized as the chap everyone turns to for a spot of guard duty. And yet, when we were on the back foot, I don’t recall him making too many tackles or interceptions (which suggests that he should sit down with a map and compass and position himself a little more thoughtfully), or standing out for being a bundle of energy, harassing the Fulham mob and generally bullying those around him.
Failure to match Fulham’s overall enthusiasm was a group error, but once Fulham had beaten our high press and advanced towards our goal, Bissouma was easily bypassed. It’s difficult to figure out why his form has plummeted, considering in the early weeks of the season, he appeared to be at the pinnacle of his powers. Apparently, he contracted malaria during his AFCON trip, which I can’t think does much for the constitution of an elite athlete, but whatever the reason, he’s not really contributing much to the cause right now.
2. Dragusin.
Strange to say now as we scan the charred remnants, but prior to the match, I was brimming with youthful excitement, among other things, at the idea of giving little Dragusin a once-over. The lack of VDV would typically be regretted and cause great concern, but like everyone else, I’d drunk in the short video clips of Dragusin dominating various Serie A attackers and felt adequately invigorated.
Furthermore, the fellow struck me as the type whose drink one would not want to spill at a London nightclub, if you get what I mean. Some bobbies look to be jovial and cordial, while others are mildly intimidating. Radu Dragusin will be placed in the appropriate camp.
Obviously, most right-thinking people would be cautious before passing judgment on a new signing, and as a result, AANP is hardly positioning himself as judge, jury, and executioner after a few cameos and one 90-minute performance. With that proviso in mind, I thought Dragusin started very solidly, might have bucked up his ideas a notch for the opening goal surrendered and subsequently was not really any better or worse than the rest.
One of his first tests saw him shifting to the right to escort a Fulham striker off the pitch, and as expected, this relying on strength rather than brain appeared to be exactly up his alley. He muscled the lad out of the way and removed the ball. A strong start, although on a few of first-half instances, including the goal, I thought he should have pretended to care a little more, perhaps by flinging himself full-length to block the incoming shot with one of his huge legs. Dragusin prefers to keep his legs to himself. Admittedly, if given the opportunity for a face-to-face interview with the young heavyweight to air my grievances, I’d likely keep my lips firmly sealed and simply agree with everything he said, the urge for self-preservation being strong in AANP, but from the comfort of my armchair, I’m happy to spout that he should have done better.
There was also no special responsibility placed on him for the third goal, when he took a healthy swipe in a bid to clear the loose ball and ended up taking a chunk out of the goalscorer. Ideally, he would have arrived first, but one cannot fault him alone for the goal. And that thought summed up his evening; ideally, he could have done better, but the defeat was not his fault.
One advantage to his name was that he did not appear to be plunged into a frenzy of uncontrolled terror when the ball landed at his feet, but instead had the foresight to identify a nearby associate and even went for a trip into Fulham territory to see for himself. So, while that may be a silver lining, we will most likely need more evidence to determine how accomplished he is as a defender.
3. Complacency?
Without a doubt, we will soon be drowning in tactical hypotheses about what went wrong yesterday, and aside from some superficial observations – Bissouma, as previously mentioned, Kulusevski continuing to fire blanks when out on the right, Udogie probably the best of a bad bunch – I don’t have much to add on that front.
As the whole bally thing fell apart in front of my very eyes, one thought occurred to me: I had rather expected our heroes to swan up and turn over Fulham, which was quickly followed by a second, related thought: perhaps our heroes had adopted exactly the same mindset. AANP has never attempted shelling peas (he wasn’t aware they came in shells, to be honest) or taking sweets from babies, but by all accounts, these are among the easiest activities known to man. And one got the idea that our heroes awoke yesterday in agreement that there was a third activity on that list: showing up at Fulham and grabbing three points.
It’s one thing for a fan to think like this. Clearly ill-advised, but understandable. But for the athletes to think similarly and underperform is fairly awful. And the sight of them losing fifty-fifty challenges, misplacing passes, and miscontrolling other passes, as well as failing to track runners or guard the wide, open spaces in midfield, gave the impression that here was a group of lilywhites (albeit in natty dark blue) who were failing in what one might consider their primary duty, that of giving their all for the cause.
And it was all the more galling because it came as a follow-up to last week’s ultimately dominant performance, in which our team put in the effort in the first half and then swan around like they owned the place by the finish. I assume it was precisely because they did such a fine job last week that they were so complacent this time around, apparently certain that they would simply take up where they had left off last week, clearly laboring under the misapprehension that life works in that manner.
It doesn’t, of course, so while last week’s victory was an example of Angeball’s best work, today will be the complete reverse. Which presumably suggests that after the international break is done and everyone is ready for the last push, we may expect something in the middle of the two options.
