Was he a regular in 4-3-3? I did not think so. I stand to be corrected on that though.
I have read a lot about him since we were first interested, and noted comments from observers on weight and attitude, but to start commenting on his attitude and intelligence is just so far off the mark for me. You’re comparing him with De Jong, whose path has been very different in both life and football. The single biggest problem (IMO) with Ndombele, is he did not get into the game via conventional ‘building’ steps. As for the right elements of self-belief, again, this is such an arbitrary comment. I know professionals at the very very top of their game who are nearly crippled with self-doubt on a regular basis. They have good people around them to keep the ship going.
As for changing, I think it is well worth nothing that having had an early kicking from Mourinho, he did buckle down and work his way into Jose’s thinking and set-up. Then came Nuno, then came Conte, two more to adapt to and let’s face it, Ndombele is not the last player who simply won’t work in a Conte squad, we’ve got several.
I agree his costs make him a massive target, and he has not been able to do himself justice, but let’s see what happens next. I hope he gets a move where he can rebuild and -more importantly- be in another environment than ours for all concerned.