The Tottenham Hotspur winger looked out of his depth when he started against Liverpool recently but he is a good weapon from the bench.
Until Tottenham Hotspur’s EFL Cup fourth round match against Liverpool earlier this month, summer signing Georges-Kevin N’Koudou had to make do with a few late cameo appearances to showcase his talent.
Those early glimpses suggested the 21-year-old was set to take White Hart Lane by storm. However his performance at Anfield proved he is far from the finished article and is more hit than miss when given a full match to impress.
That does not mean N’Koudou will not ultimately become a regular starter for Tottenham, only that manager Mauricio Pochettino will have to take his time ensuring the wide man gets used to his surroundings and learns how to utilise his skill-set effectively.
By their very nature wingers are often the most frustrating of footballers, moments of brilliance interspersed with mistakes and sometimes anonymous performances.
While N’Koudou learns how to become more effective at his craft, at the same time bedding into a new country and a new league, Tottenham’s best bet would be to use him as a super sub.
After all, tricky wingers thrive against tired defences and while a 90-minute showing can allow time for them to worry about their mistakes and become increasingly isolated, a brief cameo means they can simply do what they do best and be back in the changing room before the doubt sets in.
Super subs can be just as important as regular starters and it will be interesting to see what N’Koudou does between now and the end of the campaign with starts looking few and far between.
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