For the second time in less than 12 months, Tottenham Hotspur are undergoing a review of their medical staff in the wake of the club’s ongoing injury crisis. This news comes courtesy of Dan Kilpatrick writing in the Standard, and on the heels of Ange Postecoglou calling the spate of injuries the “worst ever, by a fair margin” in his career.
Spurs have already overhauled their medical department this year, with their former head of the medical department leaving and three new medical professionals and physios joining from other clubs. However, Tottenham have had numerous players break down over the course of the season already, which has led Postecoglou to call for a review of medical systems and procedures.
Tottenham’s medical department had been criticized, frequently in an uninformed way, by fans numerous times over the past several years, especially when player injuries piled up. By the same token, it’s virtually impossible to unpick what this actually means — does reviewing the medical department mean that there’s something on that end that is directly or indirectly contributing to the current injury crisis at the club? Is it the fact that Tottenham has by all accounts a wafer-thin squad that’s playing far, far too much football, leading to a vicious cycle where the remaining players are forced to play even more minutes, thus contributing to further injuries and re-injuries? Is it Postecoglou’s tactics that put strain on bodies? Is it just rotten luck? Is it something else?
I think a review of the medical staff and procedures is fair, and probably something that needs to happen in the context of the current situation. However, this is a complex issue that I think cannot be easily boiled down and pointed to any one particular issue. The optics certainly aren’t good, especially less than a week after a match in which two of Spurs’ injured players, Cuti Romero and Micky van de Ven, made surprising returns to the starting lineup only for both of them to be re-injured and substituted before the full time whistle. But it feels overly simplistic and even churlish for anyone, fans or media, to point the finger at any one thing as the cause of this crisis.
That probably won’t stop the takes from flying in the wake of this news, but I kind of hope it stops it here. No club medical department wants this to happen. I find it highly unlikely that the injury crisis at the club is due to incompetence or maliciousness. But something, or much more likely, a combination of somethings, is contributing to this spate of injuries. There isn’t anything Tottenham can do about it bar throwing academy kids into the mixer to boost numbers and planning to reinforce the squad in the January and summer windows. But maybe there’s some small insights to be gained by taking another look at the medical department and seeing what might be tweaked and adjusted to help mitigate it.
