LONDON -- Giving his press conference at the club offices at Lilywhite House, next to Tottenham Hotspur’s White Hart Lane home, manager Mauricio Pochettino revealed on Thursday that defender Jan Vertonghen is feeling “positive” after damaging his ankle ligaments.
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He also revealed the injury isn’t as serious as first feared, even though Vertonghen will miss Spurs’ huge clash at rivals Manchester City this Saturday (Watch live, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC and online via NBCSports.com) as Tottenham aim to win seven-straight league games for the first time since May 1967.
It was feared that Vertonghen, 29, could be out for between six to eight weeks after injuring his left ankle in the 4-0 win against West Bromwich Albion last weekend. The Belgian center back suffered a similar injury in the build up to Belgium’s EURO 2016 campaign last summer, plus missed a large chunk of Spurs’ 2015-16 campaign with a knee ligament injury in January 2016.
However, Pochettino confirmed that the situation regarding Vertonghen’s latest injury is looking more positive and the lynchpin of Tottenham’s defense doesn’t need surgery.“Jan is okay, he is very positive. We are pushing him a lot,” Pochettino said. “After a few days he is spending the same time as us, 12 hours at the training ground, it is a little bit boring to see him... It is good, he is okay and we expect six weeks that it less than in the first moment, our idea. I don’t want to set the limit or the time but I think it is very positive. When your mind is okay, is good, is positive, always you can recover early from your injury.”
“It is nothing to do with the old injury that he suffered in the Euros. It is different and maybe similar, but the good thing is that in the first moment it looks really bad but this afternoon we assess him with the doctor and the scanner showed that it is not how we think from the beginning.”
So, good news for Spurs fans as Vertonghen could be back much quicker than expected and help in their quest to hunt down Chelsea who sit seven points ahead of them in the title race with 17 games to go.
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That news will likely quell any speculation that Pochettino was looking to add a central defender in the January transfer window. Reports had been linking the Argentine manager with his former captain at Southampton, Jose Fonte, who has handed in a transfer request at St Mary’s.
Pochettino emphatically denied there will be an incoming in that area of the pitch for Tottenham during the final 13 days of the transfer window.
With Vertonghen missing, Spurs could revert back to a flat back four this weekend for the trip to City.
He had been part of a three-man central defense alongside Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld in recent weeks which has been instrumental in Tottenham’s six-game winning streak in the PL. That formation has unleashed full backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose into more attacking areas to great success but now Pochettino has a decision to make as either Kevin Wimmer or Ben Davies could step in for Vertonghen, but a tactical switch is also likely for the next few weeks.
Either way, Vertonghen’s presence and partnership with Alderweireld in Spurs’ backline is key as they look to kick on and become the biggest threat to Chelsea’s title hopes.