A dilemma in North London: Mourinho is in danger of destroying the confidence of this Spurs prospect – opinion
Tottenham Hotspur's French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele celebrates scoring the team's first goal during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on August 10, 2019. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a dramatic FA Cup defeat at the hands of the Premier League’s bottom side Norwich City on Wednesday evening. Tim Krul extended his reputation as a potent penalty stopper, and his heroics mean that Spurs will likely end the season trophyless, extending their wait for silverware to 13 years. While there has been calls for Troy Parrott to start given that Jose Mourinho does not have a striker available to him, one player who has been an afterthought since the Portuguese boss arrived is Tanguy Ndombele.
The Frenchman has played a full 90 minutes just once since the two-time Champions League winning manager took charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mourinho has not been a fan of the £53.8m record signing and criticised Ndomble’s attitude to match fitness by saying: “He’s always injured” earlier on in the season. It was then revealed the manager had put him on a global fitness plan, but still, he does not appear to be anywhere close to starting contention at the moment.
Mourinho has only selected Ndombele twice in the starting line-up, while in contrast, former manager Mauricio Pochettino had given the 23-year-old central midfielder the same number of starts, two, in as many Premier League matches. The summer addition rapidly fell out of favour under the new manager in spite of putting in some promising displays in the opening half of the season which led to him scoring two and assisting three, as per WhoScored. Though since November Ndombele has not found the back of the net and provided just one assist as his performances have begun to decline.
Mourinho must be careful, with his public criticism and reluctance to start the Frenchman leading to a risk of permanently damaging the centre midfielder’s confidence. Prior to the Portuguese boss’ arrival, the box to box midfielder showed how he could add dynamism to the Spurs engine room, which has been lacking since Eric Dier was reintroduced to the side. There is a possibility that if he continues to omit the 23-year-old from the starting eleven, the consequences to his confidence could be lasting and leave Spurs lacking.