Tanguy Ndombele will soon be back at Hotspur Way for Tottenham pre-season training following the completion of his Napoli loan spell
The appointment of Ange Postecoglou as Tottenham's next manager will represent a clean slate for all currently at the club. Once he has signed on the dotted line at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and got his plans in place for the campaign ahead, Postecoglou will take a good look at all the players at his disposal once they return for pre-season training at Hotspur Way.
It has been far from smooth sailing for the Frenchman over the course of the 2022/23 campaign as starts in Napoli's three-man midfield have been extremely few and far between. An unused substitute in their last five league games, Ndombele, in total, started eight of his 30 Serie A appearances for Luciano Spalletti's men.
He will, however, return to N17 with a Serie A winners' medal after Napoli ended 33 years of hurt to get their hands on the Scudetto for only the third time in their history. It remains to be seen what will happen with the midfielder ahead of the transfer deadline with his future very much in the air.
That would suit Ndombele's game as he could get on the ball and try and influence things in the final third due to his quality when in possession. Postecoglou does like his players to be brave and take chances as part of his attacking philosophy, thus potentially opening up the door for Ndombele to be given another opportunity as he has the attributes to be a difference-maker for the team and duly get fans off their seats in the process.
“It’s part of who we want to be,” Postecoglou said on Celtic's approach after they beat FJ Jablonec in August 2021 (via Glasgow Times). “We’ve got to be a team who shows no fear, tries to play our football and dictate the game.
“It’s not easy to do to be fair, and I do put a lot of responsibility and expectation on the players to do that, but the other side of it is you get great rewards if you’re prepared to be brave. These last few games we’ve got great rewards from it.”
They are the non-negotiables that all managers expect from their players and it is not up for discussion. A player blessed with outrageous ability on the ball and someone who has the qualities to go to the top of the game, Spurs have some player on their hands if Ndombele can marry up both sides of his game.
That has not been the case for him in the capital so far, though, and that in turn is making things tricky for the ex-Lyon ace with clubs not queueing up to sign him and take him off Tottenham's hands. One thing Postecoglou will not accept from any of his players is a lack of effort.
If Spurs players are not willing to put in the work and do the dirty side of the game for the team, they simply won't have a future under Postecoglou. Speaking about his Celtic team, the ex-Australia boss outlined that the team's defensive work starts from the front.
"It's all encompassing. Our defensive work starts at the front and making sure that our front three, whoever they may be, are our first line of defence. The players have bought into it," he said in an interview with former Leeds striker Michael Bridges for Optus Sport this season. "It's very easy, especially for an attacking player, to have the incentive of working hard in order to score goals, but to give them the incentive that if they work hard defensively it will also bring you goals has been a big challenge but the players have bought into it.
"That's meant we're doing a lot less defending deep, a lot less defending in our box as a lot of our defensive work is further up the field. I think the players have just bought more and more into it. A lot of defensive work is around mindset, attitude and hard work.
"As in life people like to work hard when there are rewards there, with defensive work the rewards aren't as obvious so we try to give them the same kind of incentive to work hard defensively."
In his first month as Celtic manager, Postecoglou also made it clear that he wants his players to work extremely hard as well as entertain. In an interview with Celtic TV (via FourFourTwo), he said: “It is important not just for him (Kyogo Furuhashi), I said it to the players, that is the expectation of our fans.
“Of course they love the goals, they love the exciting things but they want to know you are putting in a shift because they do on a daily basis. They spend their hard-earned money on getting a season ticket to see them play, they want to see the people representing them put in a shift as well.
“I knew Kyogo has that anyway, he works hard but for me that was the most pleasing thing, that all the players bought into that. They are willing to do the hard work and show the supporters that they are going to give everything until the final minute."
Failure to do that, however, and he will find himself playing elsewhere in the 2023/24 season. It would seem mad for Tottenham to finally see the best of Ndombele in his fifth season at the club but one manager could prove to be the making of him.
If that chance arrives under Postecoglou, it will be down to Ndombele to take it with both hands.
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