Jamie Carragher has slammed Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele after his performance against Burnley.
It comes after Jose Mourinho singled the 23-year-old out after the 1-1 draw at Turf Moor, as the Spurs boss insisted that he expects more from him, as per BBC Sport.
After dissecting his display at the weekend, Sky Sports pundit Carragher didn’t hold back as he launched a scathing assessment of the Frenchman, with his opinion backed by guest pundit Sven-Goran Eriksson.
“His performance was nothing short of a disgrace in terms of his effort off the ball,” he told Sky Sports. “On the ball, he was very good, but off the ball, you can’t believe what you’re seeing.
“I’ve watched him a lot this season, and he either can’t run or he doesn’t want to run – both of them are not good things.
“He doesn’t like to run or defend and everything looks like he’s jogging or running like an old man. But when the ball comes to him, he comes alive. That is not enough.
“Whether Jose should have gone public is a different debate, but what he said was absolutely spot on.”
As reported by BBC Sport, Spurs splashed out €60m on Ndombele last summer as he became the club’s record signing.
With that transfer fee in mind, both Mourinho and Carragher are in agreement that the midfielder must offer more to justify that valuation and grow into a more important role for Tottenham moving forward.
Ndombele will get a chance to answer the criticism when Spurs face RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday night, while that is followed by another crunch showdown against Manchester United on Sunday.
However, it remains to be seen how he responds to the public criticism from his own manager, with Carragher and particularly Eriksson going on to suggest that it would have perhaps been better as a private conversation between the pair, as noted by Sky Sports above.
Mourinho is not stupid. I’m sure this has been raised privately but obviously without the desired effect. Let’s see if a public dig provokes the desired response. He obviously has ability but we have only seen glimpses of it. Yes, I appreciate it takes time to settle into a new league but this is no excuse for his laziness. Hopefully he does evolve into the player his price tag warrants.
Mourinho is not stupid. I’m sure this has been raised privately but obviously without the desired effect. Let’s see if a public dig provokes the desired response. He obviously has ability but we have only seen glimpses of it. Yes, I appreciate it takes time to settle into a new league but this is no excuse for his laziness. Hopefully he does evolve into the player his price tag warrants.