Tottenham: 3 takeaways from victory vs. Shkendija in Europa League

Tottenham midfield answer

For much of the start of the reign of Jose Mourinho and then frankly for most of the summer, Tottenham had to deal with rumors of the poor relationship between Mourinho and his French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele. It was going to be Paul Pogba all over again and Spurs would be lucky if they could find a buyer and get their money back.

Well, I was not buying this talk early and apparently neither were Mourinho and company as his continued efforts to build a relationship with and a commitment from Tanguy Ndombele seem to be paying off. Ndombele was far from perfect on the night, losing the ball on the dribble once or twice and hitting a couple wayward passes. However, overall, the Frenchman was the best midfielder on the pitch and more importantly, his effort from box-to-box was excellent.

We have seen too many videos of players walking back on defense and I guess Tanguy has too, but he was not going to be seen walking on film on this evening. Ndombele was great both on and off the ball. On the ball, he showed some of the flashes of what made some folks compare him to Mousa Dembele with his pirouettes and spins with his wide frame shielding the ball away from his inferior opposition.

Additionally, we saw some of the range of passing Tanguy possesses as well as before unseen willingness to make a strong tackle and win the ball for Spurs. Maybe it was the tight whistle from the referee, but I enjoyed seeing the good tackles and hard football without a whistle every 30 seconds.

The flow of the game suited Ndombele well and you can see how as he continues to grow his match fitness – this was his first full 90 minutes in over eight months – Ndombele can be the beast we thought he could be when he was signed for a club-record fee last season. If Mourinho can get the best out of Ndombele, that is great for Spurs and bad for the opposition.