Former Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy said that Jose Mourinho’s criticism towards midfielder Tanguy Ndombele were “unjustified”.
The Portuguese tactician replaced the Frenchman at half-time during his side’s 1-1 draw against Burnley and replaced him with Giovani Lo Celso, and went on to explain his decision after the final whistle.
He said during his post-match press conference (quoted by BBC Sport) that he felt like his side had no midfield and said that Ndombele has had more than enough time to adjust to the level of the Premier League.
However, speaking on Match of the Day (cited by football.london), Murphy leapt to the defence of the midfielder.
“It was unjustified, to be honest,” he said. “There were at least six of them, seven of them, that were not quite at the races in the first half. We are also talking about Burnley’s quality and tenacity and willingness to get at them and stop them playing.
Was Mourinho right to criticise Ndombele?
Yes
No
“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. Burnley were quality and Tottenham were tactically wrong.”
Mourinho continuously opts to take a no-nonsense approach consistently, irrelevant of who the players are. However, having this mindset has ended badly during his managerial tenures at Real Madrid and Manchester United.
The Portuguese coach openly admitted that Raphael Varane was a better player than Pepe during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu. While at Old Trafford, he was unhappy with Luke Shaw and very critical of Paul Pogba, who he had a turbulent relationship with.
On both occasions, it ended badly for him and it could end up being the same sad scenario for him if he is not careful. He is managing players that are not winners and have not had any taste of success for us, despite coming so close in Madrid.
Mourinho heeds to understand where the line in the sand is and stay behind it.