Yahoo Finance It’s time for Tottenham to pair Giovani Lo Celso with Tanguy Ndombele
Pairing: Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso
(Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)There has been a familiar reaction to Jose Mourinho's tactics in Tottenham’s defeat at Anfield, a clash of styles so pronounced it seemingly reignited one of the game's most established culture wars.
For Mourinho's detractors, Liverpool's stoppage-time winner was a triumph over "anti-football"; for his supporters, Tottenham's performance vindicated his approach.
Love it or loathe it, Mourinho is unlikely to change his style for anyone and certainly not for Spurs' next opponents, Leicester City, who visit north London on Sunday.
Last season's corresponding fixture was the first time the Tottenham players had perfectly executed Mourinho's contain-and-counter approach against a top side.
Spurs ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in July, as Heung-min Son and Harry Kane blitzed the Foxes inside 40 minutes with a ruthless display of finishing on the break.
Mourinho's side had a paltry 29 per cent possession and seven shots to Leicester's 24 in a foreshadowing of their successes this season.
No one was questioning Mourinho's tactics then, and the game served as a reminder that his style could still work against progressive opponents.
There remain legitimate questions about whether Spurs should be more enterprising against the Premier League's lesser sides — as last week's draw at Crystal Palace demonstrated — and whether they can truly maintain a title challenge with an approach that is so dependent on fine margins.
But Mourinho believes his team should pick their moments to play on the front foot and the opening 20 minutes of the second half at Anfield proved Spurs are capable of pegging back even the best opponents.
By contrast, they struggled to gain a foothold in the final 25 minutes, as well as after the interval in the recent matches against Chelsea and Arsenal, leaving Mourinho in search of solutions.
One tweak the manager is working towards is pairing Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele in midfield. Surprisingly, the pair have started together just once this season – in the Europa League draw with LASK – and only five times in total, two of which came under Mauricio Pochettino.
Mourinho doubts if the 2019 summer signings are currently fit enough to perform in the top flight for more than hour and has most commonly replaced Ndombele with Lo Celso for the final third of matches. The Argentine started against Liverpool, and was himself replaced by Lucas Moura after 57 minutes.
Lo Celso justified his inclusion with an assist for Son's goal but Spurs missed Ndombele, who is adept at keeping possession, breaking the press and relieving pressure.
Without him, the ball was returned to Liverpool time and again and the strain eventually told through Roberto Firmino's 90th-minute winner.
With Ndombele an unused substitute against the Reds, Sunday may be the chance to finally start him alongside Lo Celso, although accommodating both playmakers is a conundrum.
Long term, Moussa Sissoko feels like a natural fall-guy but the Frenchman's work-rate and tactical discipline currently make him an important component of an evolving team and he will be useful in shackling a rejuvenated James Maddison on Sunday.
One solution would be to take Steven Bergwijn out of the firing line after two glaring misses on Merseyside and play Lo Celso in the front three, although the switch would rob Spurs of a physical runner in the final third.
Whatever the solution, having the two battling playmakers in the same team would enable Spurs to play with more control – and inevitably make them easier on the eye.
"It's not difficult," Mourinho said this week. "Difficult is when you don't have any one of them. Can they play together? Yes, they can.
"The physical condition for both is very important. To play the two together, we need them to be fit and play with the right intensity. And they will play together. It's not a problem when I have both growing up and playing quite well."
Spurs hope to welcome back Gareth Bale and Carlos Vinicius to the squad.
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