Danny Murphy defended Tanguy Ndombele but also questioned his mentality.
BBC pundit Danny Murphy has given his view on Jose Mourinho’s public criticism of Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele following the 1-1 draw with Burnley this weekend.
Speaking on TalkSport, Murphy sympathised with Ndombele over his substitution but said he needs to be robust enough to deal with his manager’s criticism.
Murphy said: “I’m sticking up for Ndombele because I watched the game and he did not deserve to be singled out. There were half a dozen Tottenham players as bad as him. But f I heard Mourinho talking about me like that, I’d be alright with it, it wouldn’t bother me. I’d watch the game back and think: ‘Was I hiding? Could I have done more with the ball?’
“I’ve got no problem with the manager going out like that, because if the manager slates you in the press he’s already slated you in the dressing room beforehand. I’d use it as an ‘I’ll show you’. If you’re going to take it as ‘I’m the victim, why me?’ then you shouldn’t be at Tottenham anyway. Take some responsibility, take the criticism from Jose.”
The situation between Mourinho and Ndombele is reminiscent of the one which developed with another talented Frenchman, Paul Pogba, at Manchester United.
That’s in the sense that the fans likely want to see more from the player but also wish the manager would get on with getting it out of him and deal with it more privately and subtly.
It didn’t work with Pogba – it was Mourinho who was shown the door – and it doesn’t look as if Mourinho has learned too much from that fiasco.
Mourinho would likely agree with Murphy that players need to be tougher but a public critique from the manager has never been the greatest motivational technique.
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