Ange Postecoglou has told Yves Bissouma he must make “better decisions” after revealing he has been “suspended” by Tottenham following a social media video.
Bissouma played 28 Premier League games for Tottenham last season, as they finished fifth. He only missed games through injury, suspensions for being carded, and national team duty with Mali.
This summer, he has featured regularly for Spurs in pre-season, starting their last game – a 3-2 loss to Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich on August 10.
But the midfielder reportedly posted a video of himself inhaling laughing gas to social media, and Postecoglou has confirmed that has led to a suspension for the first game of the season, against Leicester on August 19.
“Been in the game for a long time, when a situation like this arises, I’ve tried to look at them in a couple of ways. First there’s a person and it’s Biss and he’s made a poor decision,” Postecoglou said, quoted by football.london.
“There are still sanctions involved, and some of those are educational. He is a footballer with responsibilities.
“He won’t be available on Monday. We’ve suspended him from Monday’s game. He needs to build that trust back with both me and the group. The door is open for him and we can help him realise the decisions he makes impact the group.”
Whether or not Bissouma can build up the trust with the club immediately after the first game of the season is unclear, but Postecoglou has told him how to do so.
“Behaviour mate. It’s that simple. It’s about making better decisions. He was very apologetic to me, the club and everyone involved but that’s just part of it,” he said.
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There are positives for Postecoglou, though, largely in the form of new signing Dominic Solanke, who has been bought from Bournemouth for £65million after 19 Premier League goals last season.
“Thankfully, it’s what we expected. He’s a top pro and he’s settled into the dressing room really well. Football-wise, you can see how he’s going to fit in. So far he’s fitted in really well with the group in training,” Postecoglou added.
It’s likely that the new striker will start against Leicester, while Richarlison, who played up top at times last season “has trained well” and “needs minutes” so could well also be given a run out, whether that be from the start or coming off the bench.