Jamie Carragher has suggested that Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tanguy Ndombele may not have liked the role Jose Mourinho played him in against Arsenal.
Speaking to Monday Night Football, which was broadcast on Sky Sports, Carragher was analysing Tottenham’s failure to beat Arsenal at the weekend.
And he suggested that one of Spurs’s problems was their failure to track runners in midfield.
Arsenal had both Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard picking up pockets of space, which caused Tottenham all kinds of problems defensively.
Ndombele was deployed alongside Pierre Emile Hojbjerg in the middle and his task was to track the runs of Arsenal’s attacking midfielders.
Mourinho wanted his central defenders to stay in position, rather than cover through balls, which Carragher wasn’t keen on.
And he has suggested that Ndombele probably didn’t enjoy the role that he was asked to play for Tottenham at the weekend.
“Ndombele [is in] the Sissoko position, so his job is to get over there,” he said.
“We see the position of the left-back Tierney and what’s he [Smith Rowe] doing, he’s in that space [in behind].
“There’s no thought, and I don’t like it, of the centre-back coming over. It’s his job to get back. Does he want to do it, Ndombele? I’m not sure. Certainly not as much as Sissoko wants to get there.”
Mourinho actually said after the game that Ndombele didn’t give Tottenham enough intensity during his time on the pitch.
But it is true that the Frenchman’s key strengths lie in his ability with the ball, rather than without it.
Ndombele has worked hard on the defensive side of his game, but it is still an area where he doesn’t excel.
And Arsenal managed to limit the impact that he could have on the match on Sunday, as he rarely was given time or space in possession.
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