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Player Watch - Tanguy Ndombele

Push & Run

Well-Known Member
Jan 23, 2018
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I agree. Utd have got the balance right and Bruno compliments this. McTominay has also played well.

If Jose can get the structure right then individuals will perform better.

But since Bruno's arrival he has been the standout player immediately, mostly without Pogba. Fred, manure fans will tell you is a journeyman, which we have in excess. How long did it take Sissoko to adjust to a new club, GLC, Sess and Ndombele arrive part fit and carrying injuries. We are light years behind our competitors and need class not dross to even get near them next season, so you can talk all you like about balance and structure if the players are not good enough it makes little difference.
COYS
 

Timberwolf

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2008
10,328
50,217
What really gets my goat is manure buy a player who many Spurs fans wanted last year, put him straight into the team where he has transformed an average midfield into a competetive one leading from the front. We however have a history of buying players saying it will take time for them to adjust to PL and later decide if they are good enough for 1st team which has a bang average midfield (GLC excepting who is world class potential), and then continue to play donkeys who have little creativity but can run a bit. We are Tottenham who have always demanded skill, passion and ENTERTAINMENT. WTF has gone wrong with this club? Three years ago we had the chance to dictate a PL with very average competion but blew it, but in reality we have gone so far backwards we are in danger of disappearing up our own arses. Alistair Gould, yes you were right!
Stay safe, keep it in your pants, COYS
To be honest, every club has situations like this - it's really a case by case thing:

Man Utd also signed Pogba on huge money and he's had fallings out with managers, been dropped, had his commitment questioned, struggled to find a role in the team, etc.

Fred was signed for massive money and also took well over a year to settle in and start showing his talent.

Equally, we signed Bergwijn who instantly hit the ground running, while Lo Celso, when fit, has almost always looked top quality.

It's easy to cherrypick the bad ones and moan about them but in reality we're probably no better or worse than most teams when it comes to integrating players.
 

dontcallme

SC Supporter
Mar 18, 2005
33,985
81,903
But since Bruno's arrival he has been the standout player immediately, mostly without Pogba. Fred, manure fans will tell you is a journeyman, which we have in excess. How long did it take Sissoko to adjust to a new club, GLC, Sess and Ndombele arrive part fit and carrying injuries. We are light years behind our competitors and need class not dross to even get near them next season, so you can talk all you like about balance and structure if the players are not good enough it makes little difference.
COYS
Disagree with your general assessment. Kane, Son, Lo Celso, Alli, Berjgwin and Ndombele are all very talented players.

If you get the right team structure you will see improved performances from certain individuals.

It took Sissoko around 18 months before we saw reasonable performances from him.

You are right that Bruno has fit straight in but put him into the Utd side under LVG and he would likely not make the same level of impact that he has now they have a good balance.

Utd under Ferguson were full of journeymen who simply did the job for the team to allow others to shine. A lot of fans don't appreciate these players.
 

DiVaio

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May 27, 2020
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Timberwolf

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2008
10,328
50,217

The frightening thing is how realistic the worst case sounds.
Jose's quotes suggest he's been given some guarantees: i.e. we will definitely be bringing in players but on a relatively low budget unless we can bring in some cash from sales.

Even with covid, I don't think Levy can get away with not spending while we have Jose as manager as he won't hear the end of it. The entirety of next season's pressers would be one long, barely disguised dig at our lack of spending and ambition.

Question is, if given the choice, will Jose try to oust Ndombele to Barca/PSG if it means he can bring in his own signings. With each passing week that Tanguy barely features that outcome seems more and more likely.
 

WiganSpur

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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Jose's quotes suggest he's been given some guarantees: i.e. we will definitely be bringing in players but on a relatively low budget unless we can bring in some cash from sales.

Even with covid, I don't think Levy can get away with not spending while we have Jose as manager as he won't hear the end of it. The entirety of next season's pressers would be one long, barely disguised dig at our lack of spending and ambition.

Question is, if given the choice, will Jose try to oust Ndombele to Barca/PSG if it means he can bring in his own signings. With each passing week that Tanguy barely features that outcome seems more and more likely.
Yeah, it all seems fine and dandy now. But what about when there's two weeks of the window to go and we've done some of our classic dithering with 2 or 3 gaping holes remaining in the squad and no money to spend. Jose could easily get restless and try to get TN out the door to plug them.

We need to be proactive. After the league season ends there will still be big clubs concentrating on the FA Cup and European football. They will be reluctant to make moves until they can be sure injuries have been avoided etc. That time period is our opportunity to tie up some free transfers and cheap deals.

There's plenty of deals we can do if we're early, but that just isn't Levy's style.
 

thebenjamin

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2008
12,164
38,545
Jose's quotes suggest he's been given some guarantees: i.e. we will definitely be bringing in players but on a relatively low budget unless we can bring in some cash from sales.

Even with covid, I don't think Levy can get away with not spending while we have Jose as manager as he won't hear the end of it. The entirety of next season's pressers would be one long, barely disguised dig at our lack of spending and ambition.

Question is, if given the choice, will Jose try to oust Ndombele to Barca/PSG if it means he can bring in his own signings. With each passing week that Tanguy barely features that outcome seems more and more likely.

I reckon Jose will be acutely aware of how De Bruyne and Salah are held against him and be incredibly careful of letting TN go.
 

Monkey boy

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2011
6,380
17,039
I reckon Jose will be acutely aware of how De Bruyne and Salah are held against him and be incredibly careful of letting TN go.

me reckons Jose wouldn’t actually give a flying eff. He clearly tried to get rid of Pogba and Martial from Utd so I don’t see why N’Dombele would be any different as try as our fans might to make him the second coming since Gazza, the guy has done nothing in the 12 months that he’s been here to deserve such accolades.
 

dontcallme

SC Supporter
Mar 18, 2005
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me reckons Jose wouldn’t actually give a flying eff. He clearly tried to get rid of Pogba and Martial from Utd so I don’t see why N’Dombele would be any different as try as our fans might to make him the second coming since Gazza, the guy has done nothing in the 12 months that he’s been here to deserve such accolades.
He doesn't deserve such accolades and none of our fans have given him such an accolade.
 

Timberwolf

Well-Known Member
Jan 17, 2008
10,328
50,217
I reckon Jose will be acutely aware of how De Bruyne and Salah are held against him and be incredibly careful of letting TN go.
To be honest I don't think Jose gives a shit about that stuff. He just points to all the trophies he won when people question him about it.

Jose is a short term fix guy. Given the choice, if he doesn't see an immediate future for Tanguy, I guarantee he would prefer to move him on to fund moves for Milik, Hojbjerg and a fullback, rather than keep him around just in case he comes good in 18 months time.

Question is:

a) Does Jose see a future for Ndombele at Spurs?
b) Is there a deal to be done with Barca/PSG?
 

HodisGawd

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2005
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5,888
I'm not adding anything here, I admit. But a year after signing Ndombele I can't believe where we are.

Ndombele looked like an unbelievable coup. And his price-tag was high enough to put him in the bracket of a player good enough to more or less hit the ground running. That's what £65m should buy you. When Man City or Chelsea buy a player at that level, that's what happens.

But dear god, given the level of expectation he has been a disaster. Undoubtedly he is talented and could be a world-beater, but why oh why have we failed to unlock that?

He's worked under two managers now, who both seem to have come to the same opinion, and been with us for a year. I imagine the club has tried everything to get him moving. For a long time, I thought he probably had some unusual condition or chronic injury that our due diligence must have missed.

But now I just think it must be the player. He must just be a total dosser. A supremely talented one, yes, but someone who just doesn't give a toss regardless.

I can't help feeling we've bought a duff.

Please tell me I'm wrong. Ndombele, please prove me wrong!
 

Push & Run

Well-Known Member
Jan 23, 2018
245
362
Disagree with your general assessment. Kane, Son, Lo Celso, Alli, Berjgwin and Ndombele are all very talented players.

If you get the right team structure you will see improved performances from certain individuals.

It took Sissoko around 18 months before we saw reasonable performances from him.

You are right that Bruno has fit straight in but put him into the Utd side under LVG and he would likely not make the same level of impact that he has now they have a good balance.

Utd under Ferguson were full of journeymen who simply did the job for the team to allow others to shine. A lot of fans don't appreciate these players.

Funily enough Steve Perryman who many considered a 'journeyman' was I considered to be a brilliant team player, BUT you still need talent that performs on a regular basis, that you cannot say about many of our so called stars, and it does ask the question why has manure bought so many of our past stars and not our journeymen
 

JayB

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2011
6,652
26,046
I'm not adding anything here, I admit. But a year after signing Ndombele I can't believe where we are.

Ndombele looked like an unbelievable coup. And his price-tag was high enough to put him in the bracket of a player good enough to more or less hit the ground running. That's what £65m should buy you. When Man City or Chelsea buy a player at that level, that's what happens.

But dear god, given the level of expectation he has been a disaster. Undoubtedly he is talented and could be a world-beater, but why oh why have we failed to unlock that?

He's worked under two managers now, who both seem to have come to the same opinion, and been with us for a year. I imagine the club has tried everything to get him moving. For a long time, I thought he probably had some unusual condition or chronic injury that our due diligence must have missed.

But now I just think it must be the player. He must just be a total dosser. A supremely talented one, yes, but someone who just doesn't give a toss regardless.

I can't help feeling we've bought a duff.

Please tell me I'm wrong. Ndombele, please prove me wrong!
I think it's fairly simple, he's an immensely talented player with one glaring flaw that put the very top clubs off.

Poch probably thought he could work his man management magic and coax Ndombele into applying himself, eventually resulting in him becoming a top top player. In reality the flaw that enabled a club of our stature to get him has, so far, meant that he's simply not fit for purpose in the Premier League. It remains to be seen whether he'll turn it around, but if the reports that he's not working hard in training are true then the signs aren't very good.
 

Pistols At Dawn

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2019
2,119
4,531
But since Bruno's arrival he has been the standout player immediately, mostly without Pogba. Fred, manure fans will tell you is a journeyman, which we have in excess. How long did it take Sissoko to adjust to a new club, GLC, Sess and Ndombele arrive part fit and carrying injuries. We are light years behind our competitors and need class not dross to even get near them next season, so you can talk all you like about balance and structure if the players are not good enough it makes little difference.
COYS

Painful but true.

Bruno sold to ManU for about the same as Tanguay, and it turns out he was worth TWICE what they were asking. Meanwhile, we bought a lemon (all too frequent at Spurs).

The Bruno/Tanguay debacle is the single worst transfer cock-up I've seen in my time supporting Spurs (albeit only about 12 years). If you aren't kicking yourself over this absolute lack of ambition (or simple scouting failure), you need to have your head checked.
 

thekneaf

Well-Known Member
Jan 18, 2011
1,933
3,878
Painful but true.

Bruno sold to ManU for about the same as Tanguay, and it turns out he was worth TWICE what they were asking. Meanwhile, we bought a lemon (all too frequent at Spurs).

The Bruno/Tanguay debacle is the single worst transfer cock-up I've seen in my time supporting Spurs (albeit only about 12 years). If you aren't kicking yourself over this absolute lack of ambition (or simple scouting failure), you need to have your head checked.
It was Lo Celso or Bruno. Ndombele was meant to be the Dembele replacement.
 

SUIYHA

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2017
1,723
8,579
Painful but true.

Bruno sold to ManU for about the same as Tanguay, and it turns out he was worth TWICE what they were asking. Meanwhile, we bought a lemon (all too frequent at Spurs).

The Bruno/Tanguay debacle is the single worst transfer cock-up I've seen in my time supporting Spurs (albeit only about 12 years). If you aren't kicking yourself over this absolute lack of ambition (or simple scouting failure), you need to have your head checked.

Not sure you can call it lack of ambition as we spent similar sort of money on them and for many then Ndombele was the higher rated of the two at the time - there were concerns that Fernandes had already struggled once when leaving Portugal, that he was the older of the two players and that he might be too lightweight for the Prem. Poor scouting I'll grant you, but it's not like we took the cheap option. On the other thand, failing to get Dybala because of a £14m image rights bill was a lack of ambition.

It looks bad now but I still feel there's a player to be had in Ndombele so can't call it the worst transfer cock-up of all time just yet. Turning down Jol's requests for Martin Petrov, Elano and Sylvain Distin when we urgently needed good players in those positions and instead blowing the entire transfer budget on Darren Bent when we already had Berbatov, Keane and Defoe is the worst for me. Closely followed the following year by selling Berbatov and Keane to replace them with Pavyluchenko and Frazier Campbell. There have been rumours about us turning down Zidane and Bergkamp in the 90s which I'm not sure if I believe, but Redknapp has openly admitted he turned down Luis Suarez because he thought he wasn't an out-and-out striker and thought he'd get in Van Der Vaart's way.
 

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
Painful but true.

Bruno sold to ManU for about the same as Tanguay, and it turns out he was worth TWICE what they were asking. Meanwhile, we bought a lemon (all too frequent at Spurs).

The Bruno/Tanguay debacle is the single worst transfer cock-up I've seen in my time supporting Spurs (albeit only about 12 years). If you aren't kicking yourself over this absolute lack of ambition (or simple scouting failure), you need to have your head checked.

I've supported Spurs for 30 years and have seen quite a few crappy signings in that time.

So when I read your post I thought, 'Nah, there's bound to be worse deals than NDombele'.

But then i thought, 'You know what, this could be the worst'.

Basically, a big money deal for a position we desperately need filled, but the player can't even make the pitch, let alone perform on it.

However...

It all depends on how the story ends.

If NDombele comes good, then fantastic.

If he doesn't, but we sell him for 50m, okay that wasn't a complete disaster.

If he doesn't come good and we lose a substantial amount on transfer fee and wages, then yeah, that will be up there with the worst signing in my 30 years.

We'll have to wait and see.
 
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