Jose Mourinho's Tottenham team selection against Bournemouth on Thursday evening raised eyebrows.
Three days after the victory over Everton and three days prior to the north London derby against Arsenal, the game at the Vitality Stadium was the perfect opportunity for him to make changes due to their hectic schedule.
The head coach made a total of three alterations for the game against the Premier League strugglers as Jan Vertonghen, Erik Lamela and Steven Bergwijn came in for Eric Dier, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min.
With many predicting it would be the game Mourinho would finally unleash Tanguy Ndombele after one substitute appearance since the Premier League restart, the Frenchman, once again, had to settle for a place on the bench.
Spurs were abject in the opening 45 minutes and it looked as if Bournemouth, down in 19th after without a win since the start of February, were the team sat in the top half of the table.
While the Lilywhites should have had a definite penalty after Harry Kane was bundled over by Josh King in the box in the opening few minutes, they did nothing of note to trouble Aaron Ramsdale in the home goal.
Their shocking display can be summed up by the fact that the England captain didn't have a touch in the Cherries' 18-yard box until the 77th minute, as well as that they didn't have a shot on target over the course of the entire game.
Spurs did look slightly better after the restart following a double substitution, although it is worth pointing out that it didn't take much for there to be an improvement given their woeful display.
Ndombele and Son were introduced in place of Giovani Lo Celso and Bergwijn, with the French international lifting the tempo instantly as he tried to make things happen in the final third.
Starting off a counter-attack as he played in Lamela, the 23-year-old received the ball back only for his fellow second-half substitute to not connect with his cross into the box.
Ndombele also displayed a couple of neat passes and attempted a few reverse balls outside the area to try and find a way through but they unfortunately didn't come off.
While the club-record signing couldn't help Spurs to the three points they desperately craved against their lowly opposition, he has given his boss some food for thought ahead of the north London derby.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the goalless draw, Mourinho did allude to the fact that he thought his substitutions saw his Spurs side improve after the break.
"I think we were not sharp," he said. "We were dominant behind, it was quite easy game behind, but then a lack of sharpness in attacking areas.
"I made changes and I think the changes helped to improve the team for the last part of the game, but we didn't score."
There needs to be a drastic improvement from the Spurs team on Sunday against Arsenal from the very first whistle.
Changes need to be made for the home game and that may see Ndombele finally get his chance from the off, especially with the team lacking creativity and needing someone who can play off the cuff to spark the team into life.
Tottenham fans desperately want to see more of the player and it would be fitting if it was the north London derby when he shows everybody just what he can really do.
