Tottenham Hotspur journalist Alasdair Gold has been discussing Lilywhites defender Toby Alderweireld and his current fitness levels.
This comes after Gold recently uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel where he spoke about a range of topics concerning Jose Mourinho’s side.
On the subject of Alderweireld, who was an unused substitute during the club’s recent 2-1 defeat against West Ham United, and his current fitness situation, Gold had this to say on the matter. (14.43)
He said: “I feel that Mourinho and [Mauricio] Pochettino both have this worry, maybe it’s just something that’s come from the sports science staff about not playing Toby Alderweireld in a run of games every three days.
“He can sometimes do two in a row, but you’ll often find that if there’s three in a week, he won’t often play those three games, I think that’s a hallmark, a lingering aftermath of the serious hamstring problem he had was about two, three years ago now and I think there’s a fear that he could do that again, he could put himself as they call it into the red zone and into the limit of what his body can handle.”
Spurs signed Alderweireld back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Atletico Madrid for a fee of £14.4 million.
Since then, the 31-year-old, who is currently valued at £18 million, has made 223 appearances for the north London club across all competitions in which he has managed to score nine goals and provide five assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Alasdair Gold’s comments on Alderweireld and his current fitness situation…
Given how the Belgian was out of action for a total of 129 days with the hamstring injury he suffered back in the 2017/18 season as Gold mentioned in his video, ultimately missing 29 games for the club, it makes sense, in our view, that the management at Spurs would be wary of playing the defender too much without giving him sufficient rest.
Is Toby Alderweireld Spurs' best centre-back?
Yes
No
Moving forward, it seems that Mourinho and his coaching staff will need to work out how to use Alderweireld in the squad and which games he will play in without damaging his fitness.