Gary Mabbutt has called for Tottenham Hotspur’s French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele to step up his performances for the north London club.
Speaking exclusively to This is Futbol, the former Tottenham defender aired that he would like to see more from Spurs’ club-record signing.
“It’s in the player’s hands,” Mabbutt told This is Futbol.
“The slightest bit of slacking in attitude, mentality in training, that will be the difference between being a top player for a long, long time, or falling by the wayside.”
“Ndombele, when I see his clips when he joined the club, you’re looking at this player and you think, ‘wow, this is incredible’.”
Since the Frenchman arrived at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he has made 38 appearances for Jose Mourinho’s side in which he has scored four goals and provided four assists (per Transfermarkt).
During the 2019/20 season, the 23-year-old midfielder was in and out of Tottenham’s side as it was claimed that his fitness was a ‘problem’ (per football.london).
However, following a bumpy first season in London, the Frenchman has been able to improve upon his performances this season (per Goal).
Spurs’ Portuguese manager, Mourinho, even went as far as to label Ndombele as “phenomenal” following Tottenham’s Carabao Cup win against Chelsea.
Mabbutt added: “I’ve seen what Ndombele can do and every time I see him play I think, ‘come on show me’. Again you see clips, bits here and there, sparks of him.
“You see him in training at times and in matches, but you want players that are going to be there consistently week in week out, producing their best performances.”
Do you want to see more from Tanguy Ndombele?
No, he's been good enough
Yes, we need more from him
While Mourinho was full of praise for the Frenchman earlier this season following the win against the Blues, last term he was openly critical of Ndombele following a 1-1 draw with Burnley – with Mourinho stating he was “not good enough“.
The player himself recently addressed those comments and aired that he was neither upset nor motivated by what his manager had said (per Sky Sports).
So, it seems that Spurs fans can only hope that Ndombele keeps up a performance level which continues leaving Mourinho believing that he is “phenomenal“.