Danny Murphy criticises Ndombele, urges Pochettino play 4-3-3

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Pundit Danny Murphy has told the Daily Mail that he thinks Tanguy Ndombele was a big problem for Tottenham Hotspur against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Spurs travelled down to the South Coast on Saturday afternoon in search of a much-needed win, having been smashed 7-2 by Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

Mauricio Pochettino didn’t get the response he was looking for though, as a Hugo Lloris error allowed Neal Maupay to score before Aaron Connolly doubled Brighton’s lead.

Half time didn’t even help Spurs as Connolly scored his second and Brighton’s third, and with Tottenham completely toothless going forward, they slipped to a 3-0 defeat.

Tottenham were lifeless and lethargic, looking like a complete shadow of the side that Pochettino has built over the last five years, and the Argentinian appears to have major problems on his hands.

Spurs couldn’t handle the movement of Pascal Gross and Aaron Mooy, with the midfield duo of Ndombele and Eric Dier picked apart at will in a terrible first half showing.

Now, pundit and ex-Spurs midfielder Murphy has suggested that Ndombele – a big-money summer signing on £200,000-a-week at Tottenham (Football.London) – was part of the problem as he kept deserting Dier in central midfield.

Murphy added that Pochettino now needs to play a 4-3-3, with Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura supporting Harry Kane, and a midfield trio of Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko and one of Ndombele or Christian Eriksen behind them.

“He made another four changes on Saturday and I counted three different formations within the 90 minutes,” said Murphy. “His initial 4-2-3-1 was badly exposed by Brighton because Tanguy Ndombele kept leaving Eric Dier on his own when he’d barely played this season.”

“Spurs needs to be solid, athletic and able to hurt teams with pace. It calls for a 4-3-3 with Harry Kane, one of the finest strikers in Europe, flanked by the speed and energy of Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min. You know those two will get up and down, no full back is going to bully them. Moura should be in Tottenham’s starting team — 17 minutes as a replacement for Son isn’t any good. The midfield needs to be much harder to play against. Reunite Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks at the base, you know they won’t desert their stations and will therefore make Spurs tough to break down. The third midfielder could then have a little more license to go forward — either Ndombele or Christian Eriksen could play that role. And keep a settled side. Stop the tweaking. It’s not rocket science,” he added.