‘Needs to be addressed’: BBC pundit says Tottenham coaches must now act before £25m player costs the club

Garth Crooks thinks the Tottenham Hotspur coaching staff needs to take urgent action before Yves Bissouma’s Saturday red card costs the team anything.

Following Spurs’ 1-0 victory, which puts Ange Postecoglou’s team atop the Premier League standings going into the international break, Crooks was speaking on BBC Sport.

This is arguably the first occasion this season that Yves Bissouma has faced criticism. After such a challenging first year in North London, the Mali international has been fantastic thus far, demonstrating a genuine point.

Garth Crooks criticises Yves Bissouma

At Kenilworth Road, he truly let the squad down. During the first half of Tottenham’s trip to Luton, Bissouma received two cautions in just 10 minutes.

He shamelessly stopped the home team’s counterattack as the first warning sounded. After diving on the brink of the Hatters’ penalty area, he was soon ejected. Replays demonstrated that the referee’s judgment was right on.

Fortunately for Bissouma, Spurs managed to complete the task. However, Garth Crooks feels that this does not absolve the 26-year-old of responsibility for his mistake.

“It beggars belief why Yves Bissouma thought it was a good idea to dive having already been booked earlier in the game,” he told BBC Sport. “Son Heung-min and Richarlison were well off the pace.”

“His second caution was entirely justified, and Tottenham’s coaching staff needs to address such recklessness right away before a more costly situation arises against a much bigger club.”

Spurs have a point to prove with midfielder now suspended

To be fair to Bissouma, it happens frequently these days for officials to signal play to continue when a player flagrantly goes to the ground without being fouled. Additionally, he presumably anticipated that the defender would extend a leg.

Having said that, the dive was awful. He is currently sidelined for one game for Tottenham. And now that he has received four cautions, he is one infraction away from another one-game suspension.

It will be intriguing to see how the Spurs do without him. So far, the 25 million pound man has excelled. And Tottenham is now being discussed as a possible title challenger for this year.