On the latest episode of the Last Word on Spurs podcast, Ricky Sacks, Jamie Brown, Abbi Summers, and guest Aaron Paul discussed Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Manchester United last Friday, whilst also looking forward to Tuesday’s fixture against West Ham.
During the podcast, which is titled ‘Typical Tottenham‘, the quartet went through Friday’s game, with one topic of conversation being Tanguy Ndombele. The Frenchman was left on the bench for the fixture against Manchester United, despite Jose Mourinho praising his attitude and fitness levels in the build-up to Spurs’ re-opening fixture. This was a cause for some frustration for the Spurs fans on the show, who perhaps felt that the former Lyon man should’ve made an appearance, as Mourinho used just two of a possible five substitutions.
Aaron Paul, who was a guest on the show and is a Manchester United fan, offered his opinion on fitness levels at the North London club and the potential future of Ndombele: (57:28)
“Well, I think the fitness thing, I think that is a trait of Mourinho in recent years. In regards to Ndombele, think back to two years ago, and this was Mourinho and Paul Pogba all over again. Mourinho comes out and says that Pogba is a virus, it will happen to Ndombele because when he doesn’t fancy you, he doesn’t fancy you. He’ll try and bomb him out at any opportunity. The problem is now, can Spurs recoup whatever they invested in him and the answer will be no. No one will take him as he is.”
TIF Thoughts…
Spurs signed Ndombele from Lyon in a club-record deal last summer but his first season in the Premier League has certainly not gone to plan. The 23-year-old has regularly struggled with fitness issues, completing 90 minutes in the top-flight just three times so far this season. It had been hoped that the enforced break would allow him to rectify these fitness issues, but Paul’s argument that Mourinho doesn’t like the midfielder certainly seems to be backed up by the fact that he remained on the bench for the duration of Friday’s game.
Do you think Ndombele will start against West Ham?
Yes
No
It will be interesting to see if the £46.8 million-rated man (Transfermarkt) starts the game against West Ham United on Tuesday night, and whether or not he is able to last the full 90 minutes.