Jamie Carragher labels Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele a ‘disgrace’ for lack of workrate

Ndombele hasn’t managed a full 90 minutes in the league since a draw with Norwich on December 28

Midfielder Tanguy Ndombele faced yet more criticism from his Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho at the weekend, after a weak first-half showing saw him subbed at the break.

Spurs went on to draw 1-1 with Burnley in the Premier League, having been a goal down when Ndombele, along with central partner Oliver Skipp, was hauled off.

Following the match, Mourinho claimed he couldn’t continue handing opportunities to the Frannce international if he wasn’t going to take them, with some suggesting the manager was wrong to publicly slate his own player.

But on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football programme, Jame Carragher said Mourinho was right in his assessment of Ndombele’s performance.

The former Lyon midfielder signed in the summer for around £54 million (€60 million), but has only sporadically earned a starting role this term.

“The criticism from Jose Mourinho was justified,” Carragher said. “It is a debate whether you do it publicly or in private. We have this debate all the time about managers who criticise players.

“I said after about 10 minutes as I was commentating on the game that Spurs are a shambles. His performance was nothing short of a disgrace in terms of his effort off the ball. On the ball, he was very good, but off the ball, you can’t believe what you’re seeing.

“If you look at his stats on the ball in the first half, he was one of the best Tottenham players. When you watch him in the game, he very rarely loses the ball.”

Carragher said Ndombele had “pure quality” in possession, but that his movement and intent to show for his team-mates left much to be desired – and even suggested Spurs’ centre-backs would be saying among themselves that they didn’t appreciate Ndombele’s output.

“But he didn’t have a single sprint in 45 minutes and his top speed is 10th. Jose Mourinho spoke about not getting passes from the centre-backs, him not showing for the ball. He received two passes from the back.

“He just seems to walk about and not move until the ball comes near him. He likes to tell other people what to do. He was hiding and eventually one of the three centre-backs had to look beyond him with a long ball and they often then lost possession.

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“He was too often standing, marking himself and not looking for the ball. Oliver Skipp was always moving and trying to find the angle, but this is the £60m player.

“Whether Jose should have gone public is a different debate, but what he said was absolutely spot on.”

Mourinho now takes his Tottenham side to RB Leipzig for the Champions League round of 16 second leg.

With his team down in eighth in the Premier League after taking just a point from the last three games, hopes of elite European action next season are rapidly fading.

Spurs are a goal down to Leipzig after the first leg and have lost four of their last five games.

Ndombele played the last 26 minutes of the first leg, with Harry Winks and Giovani Lo Celso starting that game centrally.