Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has handled the Yves Bissouma off-field issue extremely
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yves Bissouma landed in hot water and made headlines for all the wrong reasons before the start of the 2024/25 season.
A video of the central midfielder surfaced on social media where he was seen inhaling laughing gas. The club immediately took strict action by fining and handing him a one-game ban, with head coach Ange Postecoglou later expressing his disappointment with the player.
Yves Bissouma was left out of Spurs’ 1-1 draw with newly-promoted Leicester City at the King Power Stadium but returned to face Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the next game. Ange Postecoglou had handed him a rope to react and urged him to battle for ‘redemption’.
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And the Mali international exactly did that. He produced a strong performance and scored a thunderbolt in Spurs’ 4-0 win over Everton, responding emphatically from being banned and putting behind the off-field fiasco. He also started Spurs’ next game which ended in a 2-1 frustrating away loss to Newcastle United before the international break.
Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson feels Ange Postecoglou has handled the Yves Bissouma incident extremely well, dealing with the situation in front of the media “very honestly”.
“I don’t think Ange is a man who holds grudges. I think the way Postecoglou dealt with the situation in his press conference was very matter-of-fact and very honest,” Paul Robinson exclusively told Tottenham News.
“He strikes me as the type of manager that once you’ve served your penance, that’s that. I think that’s what it is with Bissouma. I thought he was excellent against Everton.
“As far as the media and Postecoglou are concerned, that’s it, done, line in the sand. That’s the type of manager he is. You can see that, particularly in his performance against Everton.”
Indeed, Big Ange handled the media and the situation surrounding the Bissouma situation very well after the midfielder was internally punished by the club. It was a tricky situation and credit to the Greek-Aussie tactician for dealing with it smartly as losing a player of Bissouma’s calibre over such an incident would have been irrational.
After serving a one-game ban, Bissouma immediately returned to the Tottenham XI and delivered a strong display against Sean Dyche’s side. This boosted his confidence and lifted his spirits, and the £55,000-per-week midfield general showed his fine form over the international break where he scored for Mali in back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualifying games against Mozambique and Eswatini.
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However, Spurs are now sweating over the Malian’s fitness ahead of the high-voltage North London Derby showdown on Sunday as he was forced off with an injury in the second half against Eswatini on Tuesday evening. We can all hope that the injury sustained is not serious and Bissouma quickly recovers in time.
