Tony Cascarino insists that Tanguy Ndombele was “far from” the level he was for Lyon at Tottenham.
The midfielder joined the Spurs in a record £ 55m contract with the French club last summer, but failed to make an impact in north London.
Ndombele was hooked at half time in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley, before being criticized by his manager Jose Mourinho at a post-match press conference.
Stating that he was talking about Ndombele without naming the player, the boss of Tottenham admitted that he could not “continue to give him opportunities”, while demanding a “different level” from the French.
TalkSPORT host Cascarino agreed with Mourinho’s comments.
He said: “Ndombele has been there for almost three quarters of the season. [He’s played] 27 games, and I think more than 20 of them have been replaced or come in as a submarine.
“The level he plays is not the level I saw in Lyon. It is far from that. All of his midfielders, except [Giovani] Lo Celso, have been really poor since Mourinho took office.
“Harry Winks had a hard time, he was on the bench yesterday. Watching [Oliver] Skipp, a young boy who had the opportunity, he was replaced [at half-time] as well as.
“It’s really difficult for midfielders. If you are any type of soccer midfielder for Jose, and you don’t really make it happen, he will go for you. He wants generals in the engine room. “
Meanwhile, Cascarino co-host Georgie Bingham says Mourinho was “almost intimidating” Ndombele with his post-game reviews.
She said: “I heard his post-match press conference and I thought” José had the right tone, he was pragmatic, he didn’t let anyone dry “and then I heard everything with the Ndombele’s comments.
“It’s basically bullying, almost bullying, to the point where you expect someone to go there and do some work.
“So it’s clearly not working very well, but if you call them publicly like he did, you are actually saying,” He has no future on my team at the moment. “
“But the damage you can do to their trust, which is so important in football, could be very dangerous.”