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Tottenham Hotspur: Journalist questions Tanguy Ndombele’s absence

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Image for Tottenham Hotspur: Journalist questions Tanguy Ndombele’s absence

The Athletic’s James Maw has featured on the latest episode of The View from The Lane podcast to discuss all things Tottenham Hotspur following their defeat to Leeds United.

Spurs have slumped to seventh spot in the Premier League table following their disappointing result at Elland Road on the weekend which saw Ryan Mason lose his first Premier League game as interim manager.

Will Ndombele still be at Spurs in 2 years?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Midfielder Tanguy Ndombele was left out of the starting XI for the second league game in a row and only made it on for the final 10 minutes of the game at Elland Road (via Transfermarkt).

The Frenchman has had an improved season over his 2019/20 campaign which saw Jose Mourinho publicly criticise the 24-year-old following a draw against Burnley.

However, Maw discussed the potential reasoning behind Mason’s decision to leave the £200k-per-week man out of the starting XI again.

He said (9:55): “It felt like it was just based on him having a bad game against Southampton, right. He was really bad in that Southampton game, Ndombele. Fatigue could be a factor in that as well. That might be one of the reasons he’s not playing now.

“But I don’t know. That feels incredibly rash to leave out one of your better players on the basis of one bad performance. As you say, I think that was quite a big tactical oversight in that game in particular.” 

TIF Thoughts on Maw’s comments…

Ndombele was replaced in the game against Southampton with around 20 minutes remaining of the game in which Spurs then went on to win, however, looking at his stats it could suggest something else.

The Frenchman had a better start to the season this season with four goal involvements in the Premier League in January. Since then he has just one assist which came in their draw against Newcastle (via Transfermarkt).

On the ball, Ndombele can be an absolute joy to watch, but in terms of his output, the Frenchman seems to be well off it which is potentially why Mason may have wanted to give Giovani Lo Celso a run in the team.

In other news: ‘Levy is just having us on now surely?’ – Many Spurs fans fume over big development

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