System, tactics, plans and everything go out the window when someone as good and as insanely talented as Ronaldinho turns up on the Tv. The incredible amount of joy the Brazilian brought to the world is still remembered till date, even when the Ballon d’Or winner has just finished a stint in jail and will be remembered long after he disappears from the world. The same will eventually happen to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta, Wesley Sneijder, and the rest because of the sheer amount of joy they gave people.

That was before he opted to simply go down the road travelled a lot more, ignore all the change, and burn the same old bridges again. Hopefully, his time at AS Roma helps him realise that there may never be a better chance for the wolf to change his skin and yet, we all know how that story is going to go. But, all that besides, the point because along the way, Mourinho has created disciples and given the way things at Tottenham have gone so far, Nuno Espirito Santo’s method hasn’t quite given way to greatness.

Harry Kane will indubitably be the focus of the world yet again, just as he was over the summer. But somehow, Spurs and Daniel Levy stood their ground, held Manchester City at bay and walked away with their superstar in hand.  Now that has clearly affected Harry Kane, which has, in turn, hurt the club, who look almost lost offensively. Their plan, at least so far, has been to give the ball to either Kane or Son and hope for the best with the duo making things happening.

That was the plan under Jose Mourinho as well before Ryan Mason, for a brief stint, managed to exude joy. He made the very simple and utterly obvious decision to continuously pick Gareth Bale and that paid off as the Welshman dovetailed with both Kane and Son to create something watchable.  Now, without Bale, Spurs have gone back to their roots and seem completely unwatchable, and at times stodgy and just a terrible side.

Now that worked because all five men just happen to be very very good at their job and because in Raul Jimenez, Wolves had arguably one of the best center-forwards outside the ‘big six’. But without the Mexican, the entire team fell apart and that’s exactly what is happening to Tottenham. However, then walked in a change and suddenly, Tottenham have become interesting again. There’s a fourth type of team, the one that adds an agent of chaos and in Tanguy Ndombele, that’s exactly what Tottenham have.

It’s what makes him the perfect Tottenham player because exactly like the club, Ndombele is capable of doing things that could set the world on fire but goes all the way to the top, before falling flat on his face. Don’t get it wrong, that doesn’t make him any less fun to watch but the fact that he’s capable of moments like the latter has seen him often dropped or just completely removed from the team, which has more often than not hurt Tottenham

And yet, even then there’s no denying that the Frenchman has had a tough time since his move to England and it's about as tough as things can get. His first manager was sacked six months into his time at Spurs, his second verbally destroyed him in the press in his first season before Ndombele rose like a phoenix in the second. His third manager, and interim boss, dumped him out of the team and now his fourth manager had, until recently, ostracized him. 

I'll take that, thank you. #THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/WgAPsAYsg8

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) January 18, 2021

But also, because without the Frenchman, Spurs look lethargic and ponderous with a hint of terrible and a massive dollop of predictable. He adds the one thing they need, and that’s a driving force through midfield and someone capable of creating that moment of chaos inside the opposition’s final third. The only problem is the fact that Ndombele also offers that chance of creating that chaos inside his own final third. 

It’s like playing with fire, definitely fun and cool to do but also comes with the obvious burning the flesh of yourselves risk although like most risky things, there are ways to eliminate the risk. However, in this case, Spurs can’t simply do away with Ndombele and play Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as the attacking midfielder. Because it simply doesn’t work. And yet, there’s a balance there that can be struck and that also happens to be Nuno Espirito Santo’s biggest task at Spurs.