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| Reuters Yonhap News |
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The reality is that coach Enze Postecoglou cannot be blamed for Tottenham Hotspur's poor performance. Even if Sir Alex Ferguson, a legendary English Premier League (EPL) master, was in charge, it would have been difficult to change the result.
Tottenham's poor performance this season is an irresistible result like a natural disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami. The figures proved that the players were collective, hurt in a series, and could not play properly. As many as 213 player absences due to injury came out. The figure is more than twice that of Liverpool (100 times), which is ranked first in the league.
British media The Sun officially revealed on the 11th (Korean time) 'Tottenham's injury crisis is much more serious than other EPL clubs playing in Europe. As many as 213 player absences have occurred this season,' the report said.
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| 더선 기사캡쳐 |
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Postecoglou has been quite ambitious this season. Based on Tottenham's stellar performance in fifth place in the league last season, he has strengthened his players and aimed at at at least top four this season.
However, Tottenham have been sluggish since the beginning of the season. The more I played the league, the lower the ranking. Criticism of Postecoglou immediately poured out, but each time Postecoglou said "It was difficult to show Tottenham's power due to their tight schedule and injuries to the players."
Coach Postecoglou said, "'Criticism without considering the serious impact of the injury' was criticized after losing 1-2 to Aston Villa in the fourth round (32 strongest) of the 2024-2025 FA Cup at Birmingham Villa Park in England early on the 10th."
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| Reuters Yonhap News |
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In addition, Tottenham Boardjin, led by Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy, also accepted that the current slump was not due to the coach's tactics, but the injury of a series of key players.
Statistically, Coach Postecoglou's defense made sense. Compared to other EPL clubs playing in Europe, there were overwhelmingly many injuries missed. According to The Sun, Tottenham have had a total of 213 player absences in 39 games this season. Statistically, it was 25% more than all the top-flight teams in the European league.
It was 44 times more than North London rival Arsenal (169 times), who had the second-most injuries missed in the EPL. In the match against Aston Villa, as many as 11 of the main members of the first team were injured. This is the fifth time that the list of absentees has reached double digits due to injuries and illnesses.
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| 더선 기사캡쳐 |
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Tottenham's injured players can form the best 11. Starting with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, key players including defenders Mickey van der Penn, Christian Romero, Destiny Udogi, and striker Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Timo Werner are not able to play.
This injury rush has been going on for two months since the Europa League match against Rangers in early December. Since then, Tottenham has never recorded fewer than six absent players. Therefore, Postecoglou added "There needs to be a better evaluation of what a small number of players have been doing in the last two and a half months"We have done our best in difficult circumstances."
Arsenal is the second team with the most injuries after Tottenham. He recorded 169. This is followed by Manchester City (158 times), Manchester United (157 times), Liverpool (100 times), and Aston Villa (97 times).
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| Reuters Yonhap News |
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The content behind the numbers is also important. Of the 169 injuries missed by Arsenal, 55 were taken by backup fullbacks Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney. On the other hand, Tottenham's main center backs Van der Penn and Romero recorded 52 out of 213. Tottenham is more hurt in terms of the absence of key players.
Some criticize that Postecoglou's strong training caused players to get injured. However, there is a series of testimony from inside and outside Tottenham that this is not true. It is widely believed that the training intensity was rather weaker than last season due to the tight league and European competition schedules and existing injured players. This is why Chairman Levi cannot readily dismiss Postecoglou.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
