3 Bright Spots from Belgium, Positives from Tottenham Loss

Ndombele Has Been That Influential for Tottenham

The one other takeaway I think most fans and of course Jose Mourinho has is something we have been suspecting all along, which is just how darn influential and good Tanguy Ndombele has been to start the season. The difference in the tempo and game when he came off against West Ham was apparent, but maybe it was just coincidence.

However, the team was not great after he was removed on Monday evening and certainly looked to be missing a focal point in the passing game – outside of Vinicius. Targeting a striker is good, but if the midfielders cannot be the ones doing it, you have a problem. Lloris had six targets of Vinicius, Serge Aurier had 4 passes to the striker.

However, Winks, Lo Celso, and Dele combined to target Vinicius only twice. Dele and Winks both attempted one pass to him and Lo Celso never sent a pass the Brazilians way. When the defense is bypassing the midfield that much it is telling. I must believe had Tanguy Ndombele been in the match, the same overlooking of the midfield and the midfield overlooking the striker would not have occurred.

We cannot yell off the mountain how good Sanchez, Vinicius, and Ndombele were on Thursday, the Frenchman did not even play. However, we can definitively say all three have a major role to play for Spurs moving forward, which might be more difficult to say for many of the players on the pitch, particularly in the first half. The reasons they will have those roles were apparent for everyone to see in different ways Thursday night.