Home » Precedent Suggests An Ndombele-Lo Celso Partnership Could Work For Spurs|analysis

Precedent Suggests An Ndombele-Lo Celso Partnership Could Work For Spurs|analysis

By Joe Fish -

Giovani Lo Celso is good.

A fit Tanguy Ndombele should be good.

But could they be good together?

After all, this is the midfield partnership of the future that Tottenham fans were expecting upon their arrivals last summer. But, for several reasons, they are yet to start a single Premier League game together as a two.

Just because they haven’t yet, doesn’t mean that they can’t.

MORE: Daniel Levy & Jose Mourinho At Loggerheads Over Ndombele?

I understand any scepticism towards this idea based on what we’ve seen this season. Both players look ideally suited to playing in a three with the added protection of a recognised defensive midfielder, particularly with the looming uncertainty of Ndombele’s physically suitability to the league.

In the language of modern-day football, they are both 8s; neither are a 6. So if either were to play in a two, then a sitter would be the typical partner.

But Ndombele’s time at Lyon suggests he can be partnered with another 8 successfully. Houssem Aouar, the highly-rated young Frenchman, started alongside Ndombele in centre midfield 32 times in Ligue 1 from the start of the 2017-18 season to the end of the following campaign. Lyon won 23 of those games (72%), losing only five for an average points per game of 2.31.

For comparison, 2.31 PPG would win the Premier League title in four of the last 10 seasons, and finish second in another four of those campaigns.

The Ndombele-Aouar pair also proved to be less vulnerable defensively than it looked on paper, keeping 14 clean sheets (44%). That is a higher clean sheet percentage than any Premier League team this season.

Stylistically, Lo Celso is quite similar to Aouar, midfielders who like to get on the ball and dictate play from deep with a combination of forward passing and ball-carrying. If anything, our Argentine has better defensive qualities. According to The Athletic, Lo Celso averages 9.9 tackle attempts per 1,000 touches by the opponent (that’s a thing now?!). Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko are down at 5.6 which shows the kid’s combativeness.

So it could work. I think it would need a bit of help from positionally disciplined full-backs and a hard-working front four. But it could work.

And if it does work, it would be a massive game-changer for Spurs; a balanced midfielder with the technical prowess to rival most sides.

The question is: is Jose Mourinho brave enough to find out?

Tags Giovani Lo Celso Houssem Aouar NewsNow Tanguy N’Dombélé
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MrChickenHead
MrChickenHead
3 years ago

Isn’t this the exact reason Poch wanted both of them, together they will be dynamite.

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