It was another frustrating evening for Tanguy Ndombele on the substitutes' bench as Tottenham beat West Ham 2-0.
An unused sub in their previous game against Manchester United, Jose Mourinho elected against bringing on the powerful midfielder in the closing stages of the match on Tuesday evening.
Ndombele's lack of match action hasn't gone down well at all with some Spurs fans, especially given he has shown glimpses of his quality in the final third this term following his club-record move from Lyon.
The 23-year-old has struggled to adapt to the speed and intensity of the Premier League since his arrival and he has only completed 90 minutes once in the league following Mourinho's appointment as boss back in November.
Amid his struggles this season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, ex-Spurs frontman Louis Saha was asked by Compare.bet if his fellow countryman would be better suited to either Serie A or La Liga.
Opening up on the player's time at Lyon and what he can bring to Spurs in the future, the Frenchman stated the reason for Ndombele's lack of game time under Mourinho is not down to his fitness.
"I don't think so," said the striker on if the player would perform better in Serie A or La Liga. "I think he’s got the style, the quality, OK, he hasn’t completed a full game for various reasons, but I would attribute this more to his nonchalant playing style rather than fitness.
"He was finishing all the games at Lyon, and when you play there you have to be one of the fittest players in the league, so I’m telling you it’s not a fitness issue.
"Ndombele’s a massive talent, he has the quality to play in the Premier League and dominate the Premier League, can perform in the Champions League and for the national side.
"He can do more, but I don’t think the critics are right because we’ve seen what he can do at Lyon."
football.london asked Mourinho in his post-match press conference about Ndombele following reports emerging from France that the pair have fallen out.
The head coach quickly denied the claims and opened up on the amount of options he's got on his bench at present following the change in rules for the remainder of the season.
"No," said Mourinho on rumours of a fallout. "On the bench was Tanguy, Sessegnon, Toby, Vertonghen, Gedson and they didn't play. That's football.
"For me there's nothing. I had attacking players on the bench, Lamela and Bergwijn. Two great players to bring on and then Winks to give us more consistency.
"This situation of the five changes, some people maybe think that you have to use all five changes. You don't have to do it. You have the chances to do it."
