Hotspur HQ
Fansided

Tottenham Injury News Roundup: Clinton N’Jie is Out, Mason and Pritchard Still Recovering and Dembélé is Back

By Alexander Balano

Soruce: Flickr (Author: sebistars22)
Soruce: Flickr (Author: sebistars22) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Cameroon winger, Clinton N’Jie, will be out for an undisclosed amount of time for Tottenham Hotspur. This latest injury setback may alter Mauricio Pochettino plans ahead of the winter transfer window.

Heading into Saturday’s matchup against Southampton, Tottenham will still be without three players who are recovering from injury: Alex Pritchard, Ryan Mason and Mousa Dembélé. But the biggest injury news today is the loss of Clinton N’Jie.

The 22-year-old Cameroon international picked up a knee injury against AS Monaco in the final group stage match of the Europa League on December 10th but it didn’t seem as serious initially. Sure, N’Jie was seen clutching his right knee and was eventually subbed off after 79 minutes, but at the time, it was uncertain to what extent the severity of Clinton N’Jie’s injury would be.

RELATED: Tottenham Injury News Roundup: Four Players are Injured

Now we know what it is — a knee ligament injury. Which means? It’s serious. Mauricio Pochettino would discuss N’Jie’s knee injury and how long he would be unavailable for.

"“Clinton picked up a ligament injury in his knee and maybe we miss him for a while,” Mauricio Pochettino said. “It’s difficult to say [for] how long. Maybe in the next few days we can communicate better with more specific details. Will it be more than a month? Maybe yes.”"

Embed from Getty Images

This is a big setback not only for Tottenham but also for Clinton N’Jie himself. To begin with, N’Jie has started his Spurs career off slowly and is having an eerily similar path that Erik Lamela took when he made the switch from AS Roma two years ago in the summer of 2013.

That path in question is transitioning from a different league, a different culture, doing okay to good when given opportunities and then suffering an injury to halt your progress. While Lamela would end the 2013-14 season injured, a serious injury like a knee ligament injury will take a while to fully recover from.

To lose a super-sub, impact of a wide midfielder, like the Cameroon international will have Pochettino reshuffling players in and out of his squad to nullify this latest injury to one of Tottenham’s players. Losing N’Jie will ask specific questions in no particular order, down below:

  • Who will be Érik Lamela’s backup?
  • Will Andros Townsend see more playing time now?
  • Will Mauricio Pochettino sign a striker in January with Clinton N’Jie injured?
  • Will other players play out of position at right midfield to offset N’jie’s loss?
  • Should a wide midfielder be signed in January for more depth?

All of these questions are worth asking but the answers might not be that easy. However, perhaps the quickest and easiest solution would be bringing back Andros Townsend into the first-team setup.

While the 24-year-old was named on the bench on December 10 against AS Monaco. Townsend has yet to make an appearance since his last start for Spurs against R.S.C. Anderlecht in the Europa League on October 22nd. Missing some games was partially because of his attitude when he wasn’t being selected, being phased out of the offense entirely or his style of play: cut inside and shoot from distance.

More from Hotspur HQ

But after two draws (Chelsea and West Brom) and a loss (Newcastle), in Tottenham’s three previous league games, it may be time to change things up.

This isn’t an idea to lobby for Andros Townsend to start over Érik Lamela. But it is a way of saying, Townsend’s tendency to shoot when given the chance — long distance or not — will put opposing goalkeepers on edge. Whether they’re clinging to a lead or just got an equalizer to draw level with Spurs.

Take for example, Newcastle’s win. Following an equalizer, the Magpies made sure to just get the ball into the penalty box and get Hugo Lloris to make plays. Eventually Newcastle broke through. It’s the same thing that Spurs did against West Ham last season when Tottenham drew 2-2 on the final kick of the game, Harry Kane’s rebound goal after his penalty was saved.

The point is this, Andros Townsend right now, might not be a good fit for Mauricio Pochettino’s offense and Tottenham as a whole. That being said, if he shoots and they’re relatively on target, it will ultimately put pressure on an opponent’s defense and goalkeeper to concede corners or free-kicks. Which is something that Tottenham excel at this season, set-pieces according to Sky Sports’ five talking points following Tottenham’s 2-1 loss to Newcastle.

Tottenham Hotspur’s set-piece goals:

Scored — 10

Premier League rank — 1st

Conceded — 3

Premier League rank — 19th

Next: Tottenham Links: Away Teams are Successful this Season

Only West Ham United have conceded less goals on set-pieces in the Premier League this season, with zero. Maybe, just maybe, Townsend’s tendency to cut inside from the right flank and let one rip from long distance could set up a corner or free-kick. And if Tottenham are the best when it comes to scoring off of dead-ball situations. The numbers point to a positive outcome more times than not and it might be something that Spurs should continue to invest in more whenever possible.

Home/Tottenham News