Roberto De Zerbi posted a quick team update video on Tottenham Hotspur’s social media accounts, and if you’re a Spurs fan you’re probably not going to like it. In addition to the injury to Misha Murdryk, De Zerbi also cast doubts on the fitness of both of Spurs starting fullbacks, saying both Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie are doubts for tomorrows match against Everton with muscle weakness.
So there are two ways to look at this news. You can throw your hands up in despair in the context of the past two seasons of recurring injuries and rage, rage against the dying of the light. OR — you can look at the context of De Zerbi’s comments, in which he notes that Pedro Porro is coming off of the back of a very long summer in which he won the World Cup, and Udogie is coming off of a year in which he battled significant injuries. Both have a lot of miles on the tires, and both are being treated cautiously.
Tottenham replaced their medical staff last season, and also appointed a new Head of Performance in Dan Lewindon. All reports are that Lewindon is changing the way the medical staff addresses and prevents injuries through changes in workouts and training methods, and that there’s now a much greater tendency towards bringing players along slowly and not taking undue risks when players report small problems. There’s also been reports that suggests De Zerbi can be frustrated by the recommendations of the medical staff in these issues, but understands the issues behind it and is broadly supportive.
By De Zerbi’s own words, neither Udogie nor Pedro Porro appear to have significant injuries, but instead are dealing with minor issues brought about through long term and substantial exertion and caution over past injuries. That all seems good and healthy to me, and it’s also why we have team depth, so we don’t drive players into the ground and potentially expose them to the possibilities of larger muscle injuries due to overexertion. Especially when we’re not in European competition.
For Everton, that probably means we’ll see Andy Robertson at left back and Archie Gray at right back, but who knows — De Zerbi isn’t immune to the odd tactical surprise (he played Porro as a right winger in a recent match and, for example, Micky van de Ven can play on the left), and there’s cover at both positions. That’s why they’re there.
Honestly, I’d rather Porro and Udogie sit out the odd match if the medical staff is playing it safe than bitch about it when they are out for 4-6 weeks.
