Paul Miller states Moussa Sissoko should have started for Tottenham Hotspur against Ajax

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Tottenham Hotspur will be preparing for their Premier League fixture at Bournemouth on Saturday.

Paul Miller has claimed that Tottenham’s ‘player of the year’ Moussa Sissoko should have started during their 1-0 Champions League semi-final defeat to Ajax on Tuesday night.

The 29-year-old came on as a first-half substitute for the North London club and that was only because defender Jan Vertonghen was concussed and had to go off.

Spurs struggled to prove their worth during the opening stages of the match, but they grew into the game and were better as the game went on.

Speaking to Ian Stone’s comedy Breakfast on Love Sport Radio, Miller stated that manager Mauricio Pochettino got his tactics wrong against the Dutch club.

“The way Sissoko played he should’ve started,” Miller told Love Sports Radio. “But when he came on, obviously he changed the game. It depends on the player. You’ve got to know the player and his honesty in how he is.

“Sissoko came on and played like he has all season, he’s our player of the year. And you think; ‘God why didn’t he start in the first place.

“I looked at Pochettino and thought he got his tactics wrong in the first half. If they’d gone in maybe a couple down, no-one could’ve complained. But Sissoko coming on made a huge difference, got his tactics right in the second half. The only concern that they didn’t have many shots at goal.”

Not many things went right for Tottenham, who have now lost back-to-back home matches at their new stadium following their defeat to West Ham in the Premier League last Saturday.

At the weekend, they will take on Eddie Howe’s free-scoring Bournemouth side as Pochettino could potentially rest his key players in order to prepare them for the return leg.

Ajax simply have to avoid a defeat and they will book their place in the Champions League final, but Spurs will be backing themselves to stop them in their tracks.

It will be a surprise if Sissoko doesn’t start in the middle of the park for Spurs, not forgetting that Heung-Min Son will also return after being suspended for the first leg.