Jose Mourinho has revealed that Tottenham fans can expect to see Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso playing together in midfield once both players are fully fit.
Lo Celso was one of four players to be substituted at half-time against Royal Antwerp on Thursday, with Mourinho making it clear after the game that he was unhappy with the first-half display from the side.
The Spurs boss reverted back to a midfield three of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Moussa Sissoko and Tanguy Ndombele against Brighton, with all three players putting in effective displays in what was a hard-fought 2-1 win for Mourinho’s men.
When asked about Hojbjerg’s performance, Mourinho told Football.London: “Pierre was again a very important man in there, gave us that strength and stability.
“Moussa worked hard for him, Tanguy to get a yellow card early then you play with fear.
“To play with fear like Tanguy is hard, he goes for dribbling, he attacks people, he loses the ball, he needs to recover, a second yellow card could arrive, from that moment Tanguy was in trouble.”
Lo Celso replaced Ndombele for the final 25 minutes and provided the side with some much-needed energy in the middle of the park.
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Mourinho admitted that the former Real Betis man is still building up his fitness and is not yet 100 per cent.
Speaking about the Argentine’s performance, the Tottenham boss said: “Gio brought that dynamic back to the team for the last 20 minutes. He did well for us.
“He is a player that needs to work, no pre-season and no end to last season. He needs to recover his fitness levels, it was easy to see against Antwerp, especially to play as a central midfielder he didn’t have that fitness.
“To play with a Number 10, with that freedom, yes he could help us. Can he play one day together with Tanguy, yes they can but they both need to be physically in a better condition.”
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