Moussa Sissoko believes a Premier League title triumph is possible for Spurs, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side sailing “under the radar”.
The France international believes Tottenham could capture the English top-flight crown as attention is diverted by Liverpool and Manchester City,
It has been suggested by many that the battle for domestic supremacy in England is a two-horse race between Liverpool and Manchester City. Spurs are happy for attention to be diverted by those at Anfield and the Etihad Stadium as they quietly go about their business.
They have been forced to contend with serious injury issues of late, with the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli on the sidelines, but they sit third and are only five points back on City as things stand. “We are not far,” Sissoko told The Telegraph. “If people want to talk about Liverpool and Man City then it’s better for us. We can follow our way in.
“We will be like that. Under the radar, I like that – and try to win and see where we are. For me, I prefer that. It means we can just do our job. We will fight to the end and anything can happen. And, yes, I think we can win the league because we have a good team. There are 13 games to the end so there are a lot of points left. But each game will be massive and hopefully we can win every one of them.”
He added: “We can see that we are not far from winning something. It is only small details that we are missing. What are those small details? I don’t know but we need to find the solution. I think we are capable, we have the team to win, everything is here to win and we just need to keep working and fighting. That is the only way.”
Sissoko has enjoyed a welcome return to form this season as part of Spurs’ title push, with the 29-year-old midfielder starting to justify the £30 million ($39m) transfer fee which took him away from Newcastle in the summer of 2016. “I am very happy with what I have done from the beginning of the season because I can say that I have come back from ‘far’,” he said.
“Everyone knows the first two years here were not easy for me and maybe it took some time to adapt with a new team but also a new style of football because when I was in Newcastle the system was totally different and even the culture of the manager was different.
“So it wasn’t easy. In my old teams I used to play every game and when you go to a new club and you don’t start you are disappointed. But you have to stay strong in your head and I was and people were here to help me gain confidence and work every day to succeed. I didn’t give up. In my head I knew I could do it here so it was just a case of working and take my chance, one day. Maybe it is my moment now.”
Sissoko went on to say: “I think people expected me to succeed straight away because I came here for a lot of money and because I had done well at the Euros in 2016 [where he helped France to the final]. But that did not happen. In football and also in life people want results straight away. Everyone wants to perform straight away but sometimes you can’t. You might need a week, a year, even two years. My time was the time I took and the past is gone.”
“I can also say the level here is higher than it was at Toulouse and Newcastle, the competition for places greater and I have become a better player. Not just a better player, a better man.”