Here are your Tottenham Hotspur evening headlines for Monday June 15.
Hoddle’s message to Mourinho over Ndombele
Tottenham Hotspur’s big-money signing of last summer, Tanguy Ndombele, has not yet shown his true potential since moving to north London—but club legend Glenn Hoddle believes there’s much more to come from him and it’s down to manager Mourinho to find that quality.
"Ndombele, I think there's a player in there, he's [Mourinho] got to find that,” Hoddle said to Premier League Productions, per the Express. "Whether he's gone too far with that lad and they won't get him back as a player, I don't know.
"But I truly believe there's a player in there waiting to come out. If he moved on i think he would be sensational somewhere."
Ndombele has plenty of admirers, but they haven’t always included his current manager on account of a perceived lack of effort off the ball.
If he is to return and play a key role in the rest of the season for Spurs, though, Mourinho must find a way to incorporate Ndombele at the heart of the team and make the best use of his undeniable talents in possession, with a Champions League spot still arguably within Tottenham’s reach.
Ironic reason Reading game was cancelled
Spurs were due to play Reading and Norwich over the weekend, allowing Jose Mourinho to put out different sides and ensure players got plenty of game time.
In the end, only the latter fixture took place, with the Reading game called off at short notice—and football.london's Alasdair Gold has revealed that the fixture was cancelled as two people within the club tested positive for coronavirus.
One player and the academy director at Reading both returned positive tests, leading Spurs to decide to cancel the match.
They did face Norwich — and the Canaries subsequently had someone also return a positive test for Covid-19.
Both they and Tottenham have continued to practice safe social distancing techniques, meaning the risk of spreading infection should be minimised.
Mourinho working on Skipp for key role
Oliver Skipp has been one player trying to impress in the centre of midfield under Mourinho and has made some headway in doing exactly that—with football.london ’s Alasdair Gold saying the manager “really likes” the game of the 19-year-old.
"He's been working on the defensive side of [Harry] Winks' game and he'll be doing the same with Skipp,” Gold said of the manager.
"He looks like he's been bulking up during the lockdown and that physical edge will help him battle for that DM spot which is up for grabs."
Tottenham haven’t yet been able to pick a settled midfield pairing under Mourinho, with injuries and inconsistency blighting more than one player.
If that allows Skipp to come in and fight for a place in the team, the boss will be keen to mould him into the exact type of midfielder he feels has a long-term future in the senior set-up.
