Player Watch - Tanguy Ndombele

[whitesocks]

Brilliant today and pretty good all season.
Last season he seemed to invite challenges - perhaps he held the ball too long before he turned and he would invariably be clattered. Now he is a moving target, turns quickly and the opponents back off as they know they'll be left for dead.
He hated it here last season, and took a battering, but you could see how much he enjoyed playing today. Very encouraging.

 

[Cochise]

Great anticipation to grab the goal and linked up nicely in the midfield, but I thought he had one of his quieter games tbh. Still though, a lot of our better play came with him getting on the ball.

 

[Timberwolf]

I'm an original cult of Ndombele member but that was pretty sloppy today. I think he got complacent, mental thing as always.

Not his best performance but still very decent IMO. Just having a midfielder who is press resistant, moves the ball quickly and loves a forward pass makes us look SO much better and is why we look a much better team with Ndombele/Lo Celso in the team rather than Alli.

Against more defensive teams I think the Hojbjerg, Lo Celso, Ndombele combo could be irresistible - especially now that we have 2 attacking fullbacks.

 

[HildoSpur]

He looked very tired at the end and was becoming sloppy with his passes. Did well though.

 

[Johnny J]

Even him getting through 90m is fantastic. At the start of the season I wasn't even sure he'd be capable of that so soon.

 

[G Ron]

I’ll give him a pass as I think the sloppy passes mostly came late in the game when he was clearly knackered.

I just love watching him play and he’s only going to get better as he feels fitter and more settled. So pleased he stayed

 

[HarryKane]

Would like to point something out for the 5th goal that I don't think is getting much appreciation

Streamja - Simple video sharing

He gets the ball, turns out looking for an option, plays a quick ball, sees the space and runs into it making another option. The big part is he then continues his run into the box holding it slightly off the CB, staying in space creating another option potentially for the wider player. How many times have you seen players and thought they're always in the right place at the right time when the ball drops or on the end of a cross, it's things like this where they're always there but it wasn't the run that got him a goal. This is extremely positive football, how many times have we seen Kane in the box on his own for example. Similar with his goal as well as he's very far up the pitch ready to capitalise on the mistake, wouldn't surprise me to see him score about 10 goals this season if he continues doing this

 

[Clive Wilson]

Not his best performance but still very decent IMO. Just having a midfielder who is press resistant, moves the ball quickly and loves a forward pass makes us look SO much better and is why we look a much better team with Ndombele/Lo Celso in the team rather than Alli.

Against more defensive teams I think the Hojbjerg, Lo Celso, Ndombele combo could be irresistible - especially now that we have 2 attacking fullbacks.

He gave the ball away about 5 times in dangerous positions that could have put us under real pressure against a better team. I think it was complacency knowing we'd won, he hardly ever does it usually which is why I think it was mental. If we were 1-1 Vs Arsenal he wouldn't be doing that.

I think he has the potential to be Kane level of importance for us, he's that good. I just think he still has a bit of work to do.

 

[synththfc]

There was a 10-15 minute period in the game where every time Bruno pressed Tanguy, he got embarrassed. Was a joy to watch.

 

[easley91]

There was a 10-15 minute period in the game where every time Bruno pressed Tanguy, he got embarrassed. Was a joy to watch.

Bruno got embarrassed by Hojbjerg as well. Lovely stuff.

 

[SpursSince1980]

I'm an original cult of Ndombele member but that was pretty sloppy today. I think he got complacent, mental thing as always.

Perhaps in 2nd half, yes. He was visibly shattered though. Don’t let 15 mins of heavy legs detract from a really solid performance.

 

[Montalbano]

Would like to point something out for the 5th goal that I don't think is getting much appreciation

Streamja - Simple video sharing

He gets the ball, turns out looking for an option, plays a quick ball, sees the space and runs into it making another option. The big part is he then continues his run into the box holding it slightly off the CB, staying in space creating another option potentially for the wider player. How many times have you seen players and thought they're always in the right place at the right time when the ball drops or on the end of a cross, it's things like this where they're always there but it wasn't the run that got him a goal. This is extremely positive football, how many times have we seen Kane in the box on his own for example. Similar with his goal as well as he's very far up the pitch ready to capitalise on the mistake, wouldn't surprise me to see him score about 10 goals this season if he continues doing this

On a side note — great pass from Sanchez in the build up. Could that be the first cross field diagonal that he has completed in his Spurs career? [seriously]

 

[inclineyid]

You have to watch closely as it happens in the blink of an eye but he plays the most crucial part in the third goal, after Kane challenges he gets the ball to Son... so quick and you miss his tekkers sometimes

 

[jay2040]

Perhaps in 2nd half, yes. He was visibly shattered though. Don’t let 15 mins of heavy legs detract from a really solid performance.

Agree. After being happy to sell him previously I'm loving him more and more each game and hope he stays for the long haul as there is a lot more to come from him.
After watching the documentary I'm feeling that there's a none between him and MS and SA that may helped today.

 

[EQP]

Himself & Sissoko left out of french squad, good news for us

Hopefully no French players drop out of the team as Deschamps would most likely call on these two as replacements.

 

[Clive Wilson]

You have to watch closely as it happens in the blink of an eye but he plays the most crucial part in the third goal, after Kane challenges he gets the ball to Son... so quick and you miss his tekkers sometimes

I wondered whether it might have been a pen

 

[Rosco1984]

Bruno got embarrassed by Hojbjerg as well. Lovely stuff.

The ultimate embarrassment for Bruno was getting hauled off at half time having already shown his one trick in the first 30 seconds. Take away the pens and what has he really done?

 

[Spurs_Bear]

I'm an original cult of Ndombele member but that was pretty sloppy today. I think he got complacent, mental thing as always.

I marked agree as I don't think he had a great game overall and sloppy is a fair word, however I'm not sure complacency was the reason. He's come on leaps and bounds since last season and he looks a lot more committed to the cause. He is however, allowed to have an off day just because things dont run for him, and as much as he wasn't great, he wasn't that bad. And I say that as an opposite to the cult of Ndombele as most people know.

 

[DJS]

Amazing how well he is doing this season, a real step up from last.

But then many in here have pointed out sometimes just takes a season to settle for some.

It remains an interesting situation given Jose can be very straight talking at times and seemed to want him out, but thankfully seems relations are good again and Ndombele has been relied upon in recent matches and his fitness seems to be improving.

We’re still waiting also to see that dream midfield of PEH, Ndombele and Lo Celso as well! ??

Although given our fixtures was quite good to also be able to rotate between them so had at least one of them in midfield providing creativity.

 

[fecka]

We all know that he's good with the ball and that has never been an issue, it's his off the ball movement and pressing that has been my biggest gripe with him.
However, he was pressing and pressing and pressing yesterday and while he was really sloppy and visibly shattered in his final 15 minutes of the game, he was an absolute beast in that first half of the game and really impressed me with his work.
If he's able to keep this up he might actually end up as that worldie we all know he has the potential to be.