Mauricio Pochettino believes the support from Tottenham fans has helped Moussa Sissoko to find his feet in his team.
Sissoko, 29, has been in good form and impressed in the 3-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday.
The midfielder's re-emergence has earned him a recall to the France squad and has helped Spurs overcome the loss of Mousa Dembele to injury.
Sissoko, a reported £30million signing from Newcastle United in 2016, has not always been a fan favourite but the opinion on him appears to have changed as he received a warm reception during Saturday's victory over Chelsea.
"We need to fight with perceptions, of the media, of fans. It was easy to blame him," Pochettino said.
"I'm happy with him, he has improved a lot from since he signed here.
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"After he understands what we want from him and expect from him he starts to change and has become a different player.
"He's so professional. He understands perfectly what we demand from him and what the team needs from him.
"He feels free, he feels the people love him and that's why he improves his performance."
Having previously been the target of criticism, Sissoko relished hearing his name chanted at Wembley last weekend.
"It was a great feeling. Every player wants to have this kind of emotion," he said.
"Football is up and down. Sometimes you can have some bad moments and maybe before I didn't have good times, but I still need to keep focused and improve in every session."
Tottenham hosts Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday, needing three points to have any hope of advancing from Group B alongside Barcelona.
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