Opinion: The three reasons I have serious doubts about Tanguy Ndombele at Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur made waves in the summer when they broke their transfer record to bring in Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon to bolster the midfield.

However, the Frenchman’s Spurs career has been plagued with injuries and a lack of game time under both Pochettino and Mourinho.

While he has all the talent in the world, I have serious doubts as to whether he will be a success at Tottenham… and here is why.

Injuries/fitness – 

It seems as if we are half a season into Ndombele’s career in North London and he has never been fully fit. He has always been recovering from an injury or attempting to get minutes under his belt. It has been very rare for the Frenchman to get a 90-minute match. He seems to hit the deck with the slightest of knocks and always looks minutes away from picking up yet another injury. To play in that engine room, you need to be capable of rolling with the punches and getting stuck in.

Effort – 

Another thing you need as a central midfielder, and a Premier League player in general, is effort and desire. You look at Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso in that midfield, they are willing to run through brick walls, get stuck into challenges, throw themselves around, and put their bodies on the line. I just don’t feel as if you ever see the same energy from Ndombele. The man is there to be a Dembele replacement, but he seems unable or unwilling to match the same physicality and sheer drive we saw from the Belgian. I just feel that Ndombele needs more bite.

Mentality – 

Ndombele is beginning to remind me of Paul Pogba in this respect. All the talent in the world, but perhaps not the mental side of the game that is needed to perform consistently. When he loses the ball, his first reaction is to moan or show frustration, rather than tracking back to win it again. I’m not sure he has the same attitude of running through pain for the good of the team as some other Spurs players do.

Here’s hoping he proves me wrong.

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