News

Tottenham Hotspur: Alasdair Gold discusses Tanguy Ndombele’s substitution in Leeds win

|
Image for Tottenham Hotspur: Alasdair Gold discusses Tanguy Ndombele’s substitution in Leeds win

Tottenham Hotspur journalist Alasdair Gold has shed some light on Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele and his substitution during the north London club’s recent 3-0 win over Leeds United. 

This comes after Gold recently uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel where he spoke about a range of subjects concerning Jose Mourinho’s side.

1 of 8

How well can you remember Spurs' season so far? 1. Who is Spurs' top scorer in all competitions so far this season?

On the topic of Ndombele, who started the game against Marcelo Bielsa’s side but was substituted off in the second half, Gold had this to say on the matter and the Frenchman’s reaction to being subbed off. (18.40)

He said: “When Ndombele came off, there was lots of hand gesturing, lots of slightly annoyed reaction, and he went off down the tunnel.

“First off with the tunnel thing, don’t worry about the tunnel thing. I think maybe some people that maybe haven’t heard previous Mourinho comments, might think ‘oh he stormed off down the tunnel.’

“It’s not how it works at Tottenham, Mourinho, if you’ve missed this before, has given permission to any players who’ve just been substituted or substitutes on the bench that then know they’re not coming on because all three subs have been made. They’re all allowed in cold conditions to go off down the tunnel and warm up. He actually said he prefers it if they do.

“So, there was no act of mutiny, no aggression in anyone who happens to go down the tunnel at that stage in the match, but, I think the fact that he showed a little bit of anger as he was coming off is a really good thing.”

Spurs signed Ndombele during the 2019 summer transfer window from French club Olympique Lyon for a club-record fee of £54 million.

Since then, the Frenchman, who is currently valued at £40.5 million, has made 50 appearances for the north London club in which he has scored five goals and provided six assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).

TIF Thoughts on Alasdair Gold’s comments on Ndombele’s substitution…

Given how Ndombele has not yet played a full 90 minutes in any Premier League game he’s made an appearance in this season, it’s understandable why he may have been a bit annoyed at being brought off the pitch against Leeds.

Was Mourinho right to take Ndombele off against Leeds?

Yes

Yes

No

No

However, it’s good to know that he didn’t storm off down the tunnel because he was angry and it was just because he went to warm up in the dressing room.

In our view, we agree with Gold that it’s a good thing that the 24-year-old was not happy with being substituted because this shows that he is desperate to play as many minutes as possible and help the team until the final whistle.

Share this article

Football writer.