Football pundit Paul Robinson has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur have made big effort in order to improve the performances of midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.
The 23-year-old joined the Lilywhites from Lyon last summer for a club record fee and was expected to revolutionise the Spurs midfield.
However, Ndombele has not reached expectations so far and Spurs boss Jose Mourinho publicly criticised his performance following Tottenham’s recent 1-1 Premier League draw with Burnley.
The self-proclaimed “special one” went on to substitute Ndombele at half-time during the draw against the Clarets as he was unhappy with his performance.
“You can understand why the manager has criticised him. Mourinho’s comments were pure frustration,” said Robinson as reported by Football Insider.
“He has been given a dietician, a chef, a personal trainer – every opportunity to make the best out of himself. Putting in a performance like that, he has chosen not to.
“You never know what you are going to get and some days he does not look like he fancies it and that has been far too often.
“The manager is putting his arm around him or using the big stick but nothing is working. Mourinho is frustrated because he knows the boy has talent.
“The minimum requirement is maximum effort no matter how much talent you have got. The stats do not lie and they are unacceptable.”
Ndombele has made 27 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring two goals.
He was an unused substitute during his club’s Champions League last 16 second leg defeat against RB Leipzig earlier this week.
The Bundesliga club routed Spurs 3-0 at the Red Bull Arena and convincingly won the tie 4-0 on aggregate.
Tottenham are clearly not the side that they were during the past five years under Mauricio Pochettino.
Mourinho cannot really be harshly judged for what has happened during recent weeks.
He is without the services of key attackers Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane due to injury. He did also inherit a squad which was devoid of confidence when he succeeded Pochettino late last year.
Tottenham will have to make some improvements to the squad next summer.
Reinforcing the defence and signing a new number nine should be a matter of priority.
