- Jan 21, 2020
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I think the bigger issue with TN is that he's doing very little "showing" for the ball, as the MNF analysis showed. He was hiding behind opposition players, so wasn't helping in any way to alleviate pressure on the defence by giving them an out.
Whether he plays as an 8 or a 10, the very least that you would expect from him is constant motion so that he is always finding space to make himself available.
In that respect, co.parison with Hoddle is way off the mark. Hoddle was always available, always looking for space to receive the ball. He was regarded as a luxury player because the English prerequisite for a midfielder, at that time, was a box to box workhorse like Bryan Robson or David Platt. Hoddle had work rate, just not that type of work rate.
At the moment, we are seeing very little work rate from Ndombele in order for him to be most effective at what he does best. It has nothing to do with applying an archetypal stigma to him, simply that he is not applying himself to be anywhere near as effective as he could and should be.
All fair points