Add to that Poch had a full preseason with him, which removes the excuse of saying he didn't have a full pre-season to get his fitness up to speed And it has to be said his track record for fitness really doesn't look good 2019-20: full preseason, fitness went to **** once he took an early knock and never recovered 2020-21: full preseason, fitness never got to a decent level at any point 2021-22: missed preseason, fitness about the same as the previous two seasons At best it can be said that he looks like he might have reached fitness if he didn't get a knock, which happened in both 2019-20 and 2020-21...until you realise these knocks were at the start of both seasons, and the first one he had an additional three months to get fit and instead he broke Covid regs like a complete derp
The manager picked two attacking midfielders and one aggressive tackler who likes to close people down quickly and high up. He was then surprised that they were all playing those roles, apparently. We started the season with Alli, Skipp and Hojbjerg in the midfield. The youngster was in a holding role, while the other two were box-to-box, covering a lot of ground. Switching out the holding player for a lightweight bloke who can't tackle and has no stamina, while switching the roles of the other two was bizarre.
There was a handful of reports of an offer from Bayern, offering cash + Tolisso for him Here's a few reasons why this wasn't exactly a good deal 2018-19: missed pretty much the entire season with a ruptured ACL 2019-20: missed the last month of the season as he needed ankle surgery 2020-21: missed three months with a torn tendon Or, to put it another way, here's his Bayern career in a nutshell Played 99 Missed through injury 82
I definitely think he's got talent, in terms of natural ability I'd even go as far as saying he's in the top two or three at the club. His dribbling, ball control and vision is top notch, his execution of passes is "ok" but not quite as good as say how Eriksen could match his passing with his vision but it's good enough to get him by. But his overall work rate, his seemingly lack of enthusiasm to dominate the midfield with his talent and his attitude just ****ing stinks. If you could transplant Moussa Sissoko's professionalism and work rate into Ndombele's body, you'd have one of the best midfielders on the planet in my opinion but until he ever sorts the mental aspects out he'll be basically Adel Taarabt part two.
Stop comparing him to Taarabt, it's been parroted by at least two pundits in the last week That's why I always bring up the Stephane Dalmat comparison, because it's only a matter of time before Jamie O'Hara brings it up...
One thing particularly annoyed me in this game, but is generally an issue for us. We bring everyone back on set-pieces and then we can't get out if we win the ball. What's the point in having players like Son or Ndombele in our own box? They can't/won't head it and are useless at marking. Leave them up the pitch.
I'm not sold on Lo Celso to be honest. I don't think there is that good of a player in there, or not for the Premier League anyway. Just don't see what he really offers. It's not goals, it's not assists, it's not general playmaking, it's not carrying the ball forward effectively... The only thing he has going for him is that he's a poor man's Lamela when it comes to a bit of ****housery. Ndombele frustrates me a lot more because I think he can be so much better but with Lo Celso it's just a case of we've spunked a large amount of money on someone who's pretty much at the same level as Holtby or someone like Almiron at the Toon.
Yeah there has been so many big mistakes made in the last 3-4 years. Hopefully the powers that be realise how much needs to be done and do it. I won’t hold my breath though
Play Ndombele in the Eriksen role and sub him off for Dele if he isn't standing the pace. But I still don't get why Hojbjerg doesn't come in for similar criticism. Just look at the first goal on Sunday. He gets bypassed in midfield and them ambles back with no urgency (Ndombele actually overtakes him) and then wanders off behind Ndombele covering nobody.
I disagree a bit on Gio. While he didn’t do it over a number of seasons (think we signed him when he was 22/23 to be fair so it’s not like he had a ton of experience) in his last season at Betis before coming here he got a total of 16 in 45 apps, 9 of them in the league (in 32 apps so similar ratio). Approx. 1 in 3 overall is a pretty good return for an attacking midfielder. The issue he’s had with us is that he’s never had a run of games at 10. He always gets injured and we’ve gone away from playing that formation. He used to be able to beat a man and carry the ball - this was perhaps the standout feature of his game when he had that run of good form at the end of the Covid season - but I feel like the injuries have taken that side of the game away from him a bit. Like Dele, he can do a job as an 8 (he plays there for Argentina and they won the Copa America with that so he can’t be awful there) but we’ve never been able to give him a run in the position he played when we signed him. At Betis he had a striker to play off and a creative midfielder behind. He was actually quite similar to Dele - possibly slightly more of a creator than a goalscorer but similar patterns. Almost an Eriksen/Dele hybrid. TLDR: IMO he’s a systems player (like Dele) who has shown his best in quite specific setups and is serviceable in others. But if he’s never going to get past the injuries and we’re never going to play that way then it’s got to be time to cut our losses. He’s a player that ideally doesn’t want to play in the 433 but can do a job. If we played him behind Kane and resurrected Dembele then I think he’d look a lot better, but if we managed to do the latter then I think you could say that about the whole team
In the 18/19 season with Betis he got 16 goals in all competitions. He was largely used either as an attacking midfielder or a creative one alongside a holding player. I think we can play him the same way in a 4-2-3-1. Either in the 2 against weaker opposition or the middle of the 3 against better sides.
I just don't get the rationale. The team he picked against Palace was ultra-defensive (extenuating circumstances due to injuries perhaps) but then he picks an ultra-attacking team against Chelsea and Arsenal who quite clearly have better midfield and attacking talent than Palace do - I don't get it.
I don't and I don't think that the players do, either. I assume that he wanted the midfield to play differently against Arsenal, but it didn't work. You could see that after less than a minute and he didn't seem to be doing anything to correct it. Sticking Skipp on at half-time improved the balance, but it was already too late. Gil caused them a lot of issues when he came on too, yet I'm not sure how we can fit him into the team. A 4-4-2 with him on the left and Son up front with Kane could work, but it's very risky.
Nobody does. I can’t speak for all Spurs fans but I’d have been on board with him continuing with the Alli-Skipp-Højbjerg midfield that started the season as a solid base, and trying to make us more creative from there. It’s basically Skipp and Højbjerg + 1, so whichever of Alli, Lo Celso or NDombele provides the best balance. He could also tinker with the front 3 and use Gill more, as PNP says. Instead he’s messed around too much and it’s found us to be severely wanting.
He was a backup at PSG, had one great season with Betis and then flopped so far in his two and a bit seasons in England. I think there’s too much emphasis on what could’ve been a one off season in Spain. As for Argentina, international football is generally of a lower standard than the Premier League. Harry Winks has had some of his best ever games playing for England and Peter Crouch had a goal record that some of the best players in world football would’ve been envious of at the time (loved Crouchy for the record but he was a superstar for country and a good player at clubs). The Premier League is a different beast to any league in the world and he’s looked so out of depth in it for the very large majority of his time here.
Yeah I agree it could have been a one-off but that’s the risk you take when you sign young players, the sample size you can assess isn’t as big. Like you say the PL is a different beast in many ways and he wouldn’t be the first import to flop and he won’t be the last. At this stage he’s unlikely to get a run of games in his best position for all the reasons I’ve stated above, so I’d be in favour of getting rid in the next couple windows if we can find a buyer. We need players who are suited to how we want to play. If Nuno decides to play him and he thrives and doesn’t get crocked then of course I’d be delighted but I just don’t see it ever happening.
But at Tottenham he’s got just 7 goals and 4 assists in over 2 seasons in all competitions. He’s been largely used as an attacking midfielder or a supposed creative one here too. Over two thirds of his games for us have been in a central role.
