Tottenham: Vertonghen Injury “Looks Very Bad”

The 4-0 win Tottenham eventually earned over West Brom on Saturday was undercut significantly when Jan Vertonghen limped off the pitch in the 64th minute.

As the Tottenham defender was racing for a ball destined to go out of bounds, he appeared to roll his ankle just outside the touchline. Rolling to the ground, Vertonghen immediately appeared the picture of agony. Though he was able to stand with some assistance, he was immediately substituted out of the match.

If that didn’t already look bad enough, Mauricio Pochettino confirmed the worst in the post-match press conference.

“It looks very bad. We feel very disappointed, it is a situation you never like to happen,” Pochettino was quoted as saying by ESPN.

“It looks very bad but we need to wait a little bit — tomorrow or Monday, we will be able to assess it better. His ankle is badly [swollen].”

Vertonghen’s injury, if it is as bad as it looks, will be just the latest in a string is absences Tottenham have suffered over the season. Harry Kane was out for almost two months with an ankle injury of his own. Érik Lamela continues to recover from a hip injury.

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Perhaps most notably, Vertonghen’s centre-back partner Toby Alderweireld only recently returned from a knee ailment.

This latest blow to Tottenham’s league-best defense comes at decidedly uncomfortable time. Saturday’s win was the sixth in a row for Spurs in the Premier League, a run that’s allowed them to rise to second — seven points behind league leaders Chelsea.

With a match against Manchester City coming in another week, Tottenham needed to be fully fit. Matches against City and other title challengers will be the most important from now until May.

There is good reason to hold off from panicking however.

Fans will recall that it was at almost this exact time last season that Vertonghen suffered a knee injury in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace. The Belgian was absent from Pochettino’s matchday squad through April, and yet Tottenham sustained a run of fine form that ultimately allowed them to finish third in the table.

They did so by the grace of Kevin Wimmer. The Austrian centre-back was only bought in the summer of 2015, and spent the bulk of the season on the bench prior to Vertonghen going down. He impressed enough in the cups to warrant a chance to come in for Vertonghen, and did not disappoint.

Alongside Alderweireld, Wimmer proved to be a more or less seamless fit. Pochettino’s faith in the player might have taken a hit thanks to the Austrian’s early season injury — and attitude — but there’s no reason not to think that Wimmer can’t do a job again here.

Unlike last season, there are other options too. With Wimmer not on the bench Saturday, Pochettino brought in Ben Davies to cover for Vertonghen and the full-back performed decently well over the last half hour. American youngster Cameron Carter-Vickers might also feature in some capacity, even if it’s just as a regular bench presence.

All of which is to say that Pochettino has, if anything, less reason to utilize the January transfer window to find a Vertonghen replacement.

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“You can see in the game that Ben Davies can play and I think we have plenty of players, not to move in the market,” Pochettino continued in his press conference. “We do not need another [defender].”

Make no mistake, losing Vertonghen for any length of time is a blow. It’s one that Tottenham can absorb however.