Player Watch - Tanguy Ndombele

[Mr Pink]

I do think he's super talented but he won't come good until his attitude changes. If Mourinho doesn't see that happening then who are we not to trust his judgement?

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

I hate the way this is looking like it's going.

I'm still hoping he can have a good pre season and maybe Jose can nurture him a bit.

But if he does go I would hope we use that money on a talent like Grealish or Ben White. I'm not really liking the Inter swap deals.

 

[Japhet]

How would anyone know?

I'd have thought if a lot of it has been kept in house, then any disciplinary action would be too.

Not really sure why the club would keep it under wraps if they're paying the bloke 200k a week and he can't be arsed to jog about a bit in training. The only reason to do that would be to protect sell on value, and by all accounts that hasn't been on the agenda til now (if the ITK has any basis).

 

[Derryank]

swap the lazy sod for Rakitic

 

[Hawk_Spur]

I know Levy might want to get his money back but we may have to take a hit and get this bloke out of the club as quickly as possible. Can’t be a good thing having one of the highest paid players at the club lumping about.

Look forward to the anti-Mourinho brigade in the media pinning this on him though.

 

[Toast]

Who: The Goat
When: 23rd August
Where: SC

... has been taking the piss for months and has no interest ... behaviour and attitude is awful.

Pretty sure this is what my lockdown-working-from-home appraisal is going to look like too

 

[sage]

Tuchel just said in his post-match interview how critical it is for them to reinforce their team this transfer window. Not sure where Ndombele would fit in this PSG team tbh, but hopefully they'll identify him as a potential addition. Surely it seems logical for him to move back to France if he's struggling, plus they're certainly one of the few teams out there with money to spend.

 

[We'llWinThePrem]

I'll take the Brozovic swap thank you

 

[George94]

Tuchel just said in his post-match interview how critical it is for them to reinforce their team this transfer window. Not sure where Ndombele would fit in this PSG team tbh, but hopefully they'll identify him as a potential addition. Surely it seems logical for him to move back to France if he's struggling, plus they're certainly one of the few teams out there with money to spend.

PSG are the most realistic chance we have of selling him this summer.

 

[Syn_13]

Such a damn shame about him not wanting to play for us. He has so much raw talent and ability. I wonder if it's a case of him viewing us as a stepping stone to the top clubs. But then if that is the case then you'd think the smart player would play their socks off to get noticed for it. Perhaps he just didn't settle to the demands of the league and of the team in terms of athleticism and work rate and decided to give up. Poor mentality and if this is truly what has happened then we need to move on, regardless of his talent. Lo Celso will fill that creative gap and Hojbjerg will do the water carrying in the middle of the park.

 

[WannaDanceWithUdogie]

swap the lazy sod for Rakitic

Rakitic is shite

 

[dontcallme]

Oh you was referencing a convo on this thread from Early May involving me. The new info from ITK about him not trying for months and him wanting me out reminded me of the fun that was had here regarding respected Journos on twitter

I was making a joke about me making up a journo.

 

[ardiles&villa]

Rakitic is shite

Thiago please

 

[walworthyid]

Which players have our fans made the "lazy, arrogant and bigoted" comments about? I remember Adebayour would get some stick, but he was lazy and sulky when things weren't going his way. Kanoute as well, but again, he was very lazy, especially compared to Keane and Defoe. With Kanoute it was very frustrating as we could all see what a talented player he was. But other than those 2, I genuinely can't remember our fans singling out players of colour, for being lazy. Maybe I'm wrong and I'm open to that being the case. Your post seems to have been well received, so I assume this is a consistent theme. But if it isn't, then surely the more concerning thing, is that people are so accepting of these narratives.

Again, I'm not saying you are wrong, as there could be several examples that I've forgotten about. I remember VDV getting stick for not wanting to track back and obviously Berbatov. But I honestly can't remember any lazy or unfair accusations against our black players, or at least no running theme.

Its not our fans specifically, its a general idea that players of colour are often branded as "lazy" and always seem to have an "entourage" that is somehow encouraging them to have a "poor attitude" etc. These are not things exclusively aimed at players of colour, but they are almost always aimed at foreign players and generally non-white foreign players. It fits a narrative that is rolled out by the media that nobody is quite like the good old, honest and hardworking, white, working class British footballer.

 

[walworthyid]

Didn’t realise that Ginola, Berbatov, Bale, Bentley, Kranjcar, Paclyuchenko and Iversen were players of colour.

I wasn't referring to the lazy bit. I was referring more to the "entourage" and the "poor attitude" that players of colour always seem to have.

Laziness is certainly levelled at foreign players moreso then British players but certainly isn't exclusive to them.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I wasn't referring to the lazy bit. I was referring more to the "entourage" and the "poor attitude" that players of colour always seem to have.

Laziness is certainly levelled at foreign players moreso then British players but certainly isn't exclusive to them.

I see.

It seems to be more for players of colour but not to a sinister extent. A quick google of the words ‘football entourage contract’ bring up articles for N’Dombele, Kurzawa, Neymar and Willian, but also Kane, Cavani, Dybala and Lauturo Martinez.

I think it’s just the vogue word journalists use in place of a number of collective nouns.

 

[Amo]

I see.

It seems to be more for players of colour but not to a sinister extent. A quick google of the words ‘football entourage contract’ bring up articles for N’Dombele, Kurzawa, Neymar and Willian, but also Kane, Cavani, Dybala and Lauturo Martinez.

I think it’s just the vogue word journalist use in place of a number of collective nouns.

Dunno when I hear entourage in a football context I instantly associate it with black players and 10 hoodied folks loitering on a street corner leaning against a Cadilac ambiguously enough that it's not immediately clear whether they are in fact dealing drugs.

In all seriousness, there are racial connotations to the word that make uncritical or unthinking use of it in journalism sit rather uneasy with me.

 

[mil1lion]

Our biggest problem is he's probably too lazy to leave

 

[JayB]

I'll take the Brozovic swap thank you

Brozovic is arguably world class in the role that Winks played yesterday, sitting as the deepest midfielder and dictating play. I hadn't really thought he would make any sense with us having bought Hojbjerg, but if Hojbjerg is going to be tasked with hunting the ball down as opposed to maintaining positional discipline it's a different story. As a short-term move I have little doubt that swapping him for Ndombele would improve us given that Jose is unlikely to select a player who can't be arsed to apply himself.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Dunno when I hear entourage in a football context I instantly associate it with black players and 10 hoodied folks loitering on a street corner leaning against a Cadilac ambiguously enough that it's not immediately clear whether they are in fact dealing drugs.

In all seriousness, there are racial connotations to the word that make uncritical or unthinking use of it in journalism sit rather uneasy with me.

I respectfully disagree, but won’t say more as I don’t want to drag up the race discussion when it’s derailing so many threads. More than happy for you to pm me if you particularly want to make a further point.