Danny Murphy disagrees with Mourinho as Spurs boss singles out Ndombele

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Former Spurs and Liverpool midfielder, Danny Murphy, believes Jose Mourinho was wrong to single out Tanguy Ndombele following the draw with Burnley.

The midfielder was criticised by the Spurs boss for not having a big enough impact on the game. Ndombele was substituted at half-time by Mourinho, with the Portuguese boss in no mood to defend him following the game.

But while it wasn’t the best display from Spurs’ record signing, Murphy believes Mourinho was wrong to seemingly blame just Ndombele for the poor display.

Indeed, speaking on Match of the Day, Murphy believed some Spurs players got off lightly, with Ndombele taking the fall for his teammates.

“It was unjustified, to be honest“, Murphy said. (BBC MOTD)

“There were at least six or seven of them that were not quite at the races in the first half. Ndombele was no worse than half a dozen others. So I think it is harsh to use him as a scapegoat. All in all, you cannot blame Ndombele for the first half.”

Mourinho also took off youngster, Oliver Skipp, at the break but reserved judgement on the youngster.

The Spurs boss also stuck with Eric Dier after the England man’s controversial actions in midweek. Dier was seen fighting his way through the crowd to confront a supporter following his side’s loss to Norwich in the FA Cup.

The defeat for Spurs yesterday saw them slip to eighth in the table. Wolves picked up a point while Sheffield United won once again to move into sixth.

Mourinho playing a dangerous game again – TBR View

We saw this sort of behaviour from Mourinho during the latter days of his spell with Man United and Chelsea before that.

While he’s within his right to criticise his players as he sees fit, it is also a sure-fire way of losing the buy-in from certain players.

Of course, Mourinho will know Ndombele’s character. He might well be hoping for a reaction from his midfielder during Spurs’ next Premier League fixture.

However, he is playing a dangerous game. Players can quickly become unhappy. On this occasion, Mourinho will be hoping he’s got his judgement spot on when it comes to Ndombele.