Kane has now scored 137 goals in 200 appearances for Spurs in the Premier League - the only player in the competition's history to have scored more after 200 games for a club is Sergio Aguero (138) Player PL goals PL Apps Goals pg ratio Alan Shearer 260 441 0.59 Wayne Rooney 208 491 0.42 Harry Kane 137 203 0.67
Jose's already denied that rumour although equally more or less said that Tanguy isn't his first choice (which we could all guess). Tanguy Ndombele didn't even warm-up today and there have been reports from France that the two of you have had a disagreement, is there any truth to that? No. On the bench was Tanguy, Sessegnon, Toby, Vertonghen, Gedson and they didn't play. That's football. For me there's nothing. I had attacking players on the bench, Lamela and Bergwijn. Two great players to bring on and then Winks to give us more consistency. This situation of the five changes, some people maybe think that you have to use all five changes. You don't have to do it. You have the chances to do it. So Tanguy has been okay with you about not getting any minutes in the first couple of games? You know, it's not just him. I try to do the best for my team. I cannot start the game with 12 or 13 players, I try to do the best for the team. Sometimes I apologise to my players that are not my first choice because I feel their work in training deserves something more than I give but I have to do my job the best I can and I felt for these two matches I didn't need him. ------------------------------------------------ I think most of us can see how this is going to end. It's best if Levy is actively trying to find a buyer for him right now, we'll likely have to take a loss but it's better than keeping a £55m signing on the bench for another season and further see his value decrease. We're not a club who can afford these sort of expensive mistakes, especially in the current climate. Shame though, the guy has insane ability but - to me at least - it's becoming pretty apparent he doesn't have a future here under Jose.
Yeah but it wont be just under Jose, if he can’t pull his socks up and start to act like our record signing. He has previous for this until he got a kick up the arse This isn’t Jose being a twat
Yeah I don't think Jose is being a twat, although I do think he was 'wrong' for bigging him up before the restart and then not use him. It gives mixed signals to him and the fans too, fans got excited thinking we were finally gonna see an improved and streamlined version of the player and so far we've not had a peep. I think he could've been utilised as well, when Pogba came on for Utd he changed the game and I think Tanguy could've helped counter that, equally I think today where we knew we'd be the dominant side it would've suited him to be in the team for this, ultimately though we won 2-0 and that's all that matters. I said the other day I think Ndombele is either going to become one of the best CMs on the planet or end up in Russia/ Ukraine/ China within a year or two and I stand by it. There won't be a middle ground where he becomes a good/ great player, it's either elite or obscure. The talent is 100% there, he's similar to someone like Adel Taarabt, that guy had all the ability to potentially become another Zidane or Kaka, instead his best spell in his career was in the Championship with QPR.
Your comparison with Taarabt is a good one and it does make you wonder when so called experts at football (Spurs scouts and management) think we should sign players like this when their 'problems' are clearly visible in their history. Spurs try to compete with clubs like the Manchesters, Liverpool and Chelsea by spending less and buying cutely which by and large they do, but every so often they seem to have a rush of blood and waste money and time on signing players like Taraabt and now NDombele. All they do is take up the space and time that could be spent on another player who can really contribute to the team. They really should not be seduced by the fancy moves and look at the overall contribution or otherwise of these timewasters. Just get rid of him, Siberia sounds appropriate.
Completely agree on Ndombele. It's not looking good for him and if the rumours of a fallout with Jose are true then it's only a matter of time until he's gone, unless he turns out to be his 'Pogba' at Spurs. I think there's a good chance we'll sell one big player this summer to help us finance the rebalancing of the squad, I previously thought it would be Dele as I couldn't see a position for him, but the way we've lined up these two games, it looks like Mou has adapted. Honestly, as high as Ndombele's potential is, if we sold him and used the fee to contribute towards securing a DM, RB and backup for Kane, I really think that could be good business for us. I don't want to write him off after a season but the way its going for him, I get less assured of him making it with us after every game.
It's hard to know what to make of it. He should be getting on the pitch, if only as a substitute...but in the last 2 games, it's clear that Mourinho's going to continue under-using the bench again, especially those two. It seems that Sessegnon,and Ndombele, like Foyth, aren't options at all. I'm expecting Kane and Davies to be injured again before we complete the season, as we overplay players who have poor injury records in recent times. Personally, I'm ambivalent whether we stick or twist with them but there doesn't seem to be any point to keeping them whilst Mourinho's manager. He clearly doesn't rate them as worthy of game time. Do I trust his judgment...? No, in a different environment, both players could definitely add something to the cause. Both could cause real problems to a tiring opposition, coming off the bench. In the meantime, he might as well pick Skippy and Cirkin to sit on the bench. It might benefit them and they've probably got more of a chance of getting on the pitch....
Or both could disrupt a performing team that is still needing time together to play how this manager wants. Sending on 'can't be arsed' performers would do us no favours. Why put him on the bench? because we need to sell him. Sessignon has clearly shown he is not ready for the step up yet so putting him on would possibly be counter effective to his development.
I can't see that putting them on the bench adds anything to their saleability, if you don't put them on the pitch. Under this manager, we're heading down the Pochettino route of having 15 or so players that the manager wants to play and playing them until they're exhausted and get injured. I don't get what's good about that. Good managers get something out of players who they don't necessarily want. Mourinho's not going shopping for a new squad this summer and if he can't use the talent that's actually at his disposal, we're completely wasting our time employing him, as we're just going to repeat past mistakes.
Just because we can use 5 subs doesn’t mean we have to why did we need to? Because we weren’t smashing them 4-0 at HT? we won 2-0 every team has a sticky patch during a game not just us now we have a 9 game rest then we have 3 games in 6 days I don’t know what people have seen in Tanguy that suggests he is the game changer we need when things are a bit stale on the pitch...wtf has he done when he has played? He’s performed like an average midfielder at best. Just because the club purchased him for a World record fee doesn’t mean he deserves to be the first port of call when we are in distress...he’s dogshit with a world class price tag that’s all. What’s Jose doing to get the best out of Bergwijn and Lo Celso but not with Tanguy? What is Jose doing to get the best out of a very limited Aurier because let’s be honest he’s our most dangerous box ball nowadays. Maybe we should judge Jose on what he is doing with the majority and not how one single player is playing...maybe it’s the player...no maybe really...it’s defo the player...something about him stinks.
Thankfully Taarabt cost us peanuts so it wasn’t really a huge risk to ever sign him, we probably even made a profit on him too as he lit up the Championship with QPR which resulted in them signing him permanently. Ndombele is a whole different story though and it’s really worrying, a record signing having the problems he’s having is a huge issue for a club like us as we can’t afford to have expensive flops. What’s worse - and it’s been pointed by others on here before - is that Ndombele’s history suggests he’s had fitness issues in the past and yet Poch/ Spurs were still hellbent on signing him, Poch apparently even passed up the opportunity to sign Tielemans in the 18/19 window because we chose to wait a year for Ndombele. It’s looking like terrible judgement from Poch/ Levy/ Scouting team to do so because whilst Tanguy certainly has insane ability, his application this season has been nothing short of atrocious and signs may have been there to warn us of that. I‘d love for him to prove the doubters wrong as he is a crazily talented guy but it really isn’t looking good and if push came to shove and we got an good offer in the summer, I’d look at taking it, cut our losses and move on swiftly.
I’ve been massively underwhelmed by Sess to be honest. I didn’t expect him to light WHL up immediately but I thought I’d see that fire or spark from a young player to get fans off their seats, he seems far too timid to make it as a LW and is currently not at the desired level to make it as a LB. He’s still very young though and I think a loan move wouldn’t be a bad idea for him. I agree he could’ve made it onto the pitch in these last two games though, especially Utd where we were so laboured and in need of someone who could run the wing a bit. As for Ndombele I’d probably just be repeating myself. £55m player struggling like he is is a concern. If we could sell for no more than a £10m loss I’d take it and as Hudd said, use the money towards problem areas in the squad. What’s probably been worse for Ndombele is how good Gio is looking, Gio joined us injured, got injured again and yet has become arguably our best player under Jose, even coming back yesterday where he wasn’t supposed to be fully match fit and playing 90 mins at a level that saw him named MOTM. Puts Tanguy to shame to be honest when you consider Tanguy was out of breath after 30 mins against Burnley before the Covid breakout.
I know what you mean about Sessegnon...he lacks fire and menace. Needs to become a man and own it but seems like he’s in a shell. I don’t see the point in sending him on loan...it will be to a club smaller than ours and I don’t think he’s in his shell because he’s not getting games I think he’s overwhelmed with the task ahead for a club our size. Hopefully he gets a chance to mature but he needs to hurry up...others his age manage it if they want it bad enough...he has the skill set required.
Couldn’t agree more. I hate the cliche and it gets repeated too much but I’m going to say it again - Mourinho is a winner, he wins trophies everywhere he goes. He understands what it takes and no matter what you think of his playing style, he won’t suffer fools. Early Poch wouldn’t either, as we all remember, but he lost the fire by the end. Mourinho wants players like Gio, who will put in a MOTM performance over 90 mins despite being injured before lockdown, during lockdown, and barely training a day with the group before the restart. He wants players like Lamela, who will make themselves available despite not being fully fit and always offer 100% on the pitch. He wants consummate professionals like Kane. Anyone half arsing it isn’t worth his time. No matter what I think of the playing style he coaches or how he is as man, this is one aspect of his personality I am fully behind. Frankly if he can develop a team of committed grinders who ****house their way to a cup win next season in a run of games like yesterday’s, then I’m fully behind that. I want to see us play champagne football as much as the next fan but I also want to see us win.
I know it is controversial but in most walks of life a manager has to get the best out of the team they have. They rarely get the chance to have a massive change of personnel. Jose needs to find a way to get the best out of Ndombele.
I agree, with reservations about your last paragraph. I want to see 'The Spurs Way' respected because that's one of the reasons I am a Spurs fan. Mourinho has paid respect to it and I hope he keeps it in mind. I did not enjoy the way we played against United and I don't want to see that every week. What I hope is that Mourinho can put Spurs on the map of the big teams and already you can hear the media expecting Spurs to do something where only a few seasons ago they wrote us off as lightweights every season. Pochettino forced them to rethink this now Mourinho can put Spurs in the world window as regards players wanting to come here and when he has done that we can welcome Pochettino back to finish what he started with a stronger squad.
No I think, bearing in mind the huge fees involved, NDombele need to get the best out of NDombele. He is a professional footballer with huge talents if he needs nurturing then something is clearly wrong and whilst somewhere like City or Chelsea can afford to 'try' such players Spurs can't.
Spurs certainly looked better than they have in a long time, between a poor season, a particularly bad run of form, and COVID. While it can be chalked up to the West Ham footballing panacea, that's a feature not a bug, as far as I'm concerned, and there really were a number of good developments. The team played reasonably good football. Lo Celso is a player (though injury worries persist), and his partnership with Sissoko looks a good one. Dier, unexpectedly, is looking like an, if not the, answer, to partner with Davinson. The fullbacks are looking decent. Mourinho fielded a lineup that made sense to me, even if nobody's told him about the change in substitution rules. As for Ndombele, well, he's another one to move on so the rest of the club can flourish, IMO. I'm not exactly president of the Jose fan club, but don't blame him for this one. I haven't seen Ndombele fully fit and fully motivated and doubt I've seen either. It's a pity, as he's a top talent.
I’ll take that. I’m perhaps showing my age a bit - I missed the glory glory days and while I’ve seen us play great football under a couple of managers (namely Redknapp and Poch) I’ve never seen us consistently win trophies. Obviously the league or CL are the dream but, assuming Mourinho were to be here for another 2/3 years, even picking up a cup or two in that time would be vindication of his appointment and a reward for many of the players who have stuck with us. Playing great football is a big part of the Spurs identity and even as a younger fan than many on here I’m not win at all costs, I do buy into the mentality and took great pride in the football Poch produced from this squad, even when we weren’t winning trophies. But at the same time I do really ****ing want a trophy for this group. Poch came close, Jose needs to finish the job.
I’m in the same boat. Watching prime Poch (and ‘Arry) sides were a joy and it was gutting not to win something under either manager. I said roughly over a year ago I think I’d take substance over style for a while if it meant picking up a trophy (even a league cup!) and I stand by it. Jose is probably the best in the game when it comes to substance so I really hope that he’s backed enough in order to continue what he’s done at previous clubs. Depending on the calibre of opposition, if we can play the counter game like we did against Utd for the first 55-60mins over a full 90 and then also switch it up to dominate games like yesterday, I think most fans will enjoy it under Jose if they give him the chance.
