Football.london journalist Alasdair Gold discussed all of the latest Tottenham Hotspur news on the most recent video that has been posted to his YouTube channel, where he spent some time talking about Lilywhites defender Japhet Tanganga.
Tanganga broke into Spurs’ first team last season, with the 21-year-old making 11 appearances for the Lilywhites in all competitions last term. However, he was sidelined for some time at the end of last season and he has also struggled with injury in the early stages of the 2020/21 campaign.
Tanganga has played in just one of Spurs’ 12 competitive games so far this season – the Lilywhites’ EFL Cup clash with Chelsea on 29th September. He suffered a thigh muscle strain before the beginning of the season, and while he returned to first-team action in late September, he was once again sidelined after that game, with the £7.2m-rated player forced to pull out of the England U21 squad earlier this month due to injury.
Here is what Gold had to say about Tanganga and his injury issues during this recent YouTube video: “They’ve got to get Tanganga fit. Tanganga’s a big miss. He’s a young player that has so much potential. He’s on his way back, but he’s just had a really bad period of injuries right now and it’s really kind of stunting his progress.”
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TIF Thoughts on what Gold had to say about Tanganga…
Judging by Gold’s comments, it’s clear that while he does have high hopes for Tanganga, he’s also concerned about the impact that the time he’s spent on the sidelines of late is having on his development.
It would seem as though Gold isn’t alone in having high expectations for the 21-year-old, as Spurs boss Jose Mourinho stated that he thinks Tanganga is a “great professional” with a “great sense of responsibility” prior to his side’s 1-0 UEFA Europa League loss to Royal Antwerp on Thursday.
The Portuguese coach also described the player as being “very unlucky” with regard to his injury issues. Hopefully, for Spurs and Tanganga, the manager is right in saying that he has just been “unlucky” and these injury issues subside soon before affecting his progress too much, as Gold seems to be worried about.
If they do, then maybe his return to fitness could provide a significant boost for Spurs, given how highly thought of he seems to be.