It was déjà vu all over again when Danny Rose faced a long spell on the sidelines and Spurs suddenly found themselves with no recognised cover at left back. 12 months ago, roles were reversed as Benoit Assou-Ekotto was on the physio’s bench and Danny was on loan at Sunderland but if you fast forward back to the present day, BAE is no use to the team while away at Loftus Road.
After Kyle Naughton failed to impress, Jan Vertonghen was pressed into service and looks as comfortable here as he does in his preferred centre half slot. There’s also something familiar about the Belgian’s comments in reaction to the switch.
“I can play at left-back and I can help the team at times. But everyone knows I am not a left-back,” Jan said on Belgian TV.
“Once there are injuries, I’m the first to fill in the gap. Sometimes it’s better if you can play in only one position.”
“You see that with other players. These guys specialise in one position and they can completely concentrate.”
A year ago Vertonghen said something very similar,
“At Tottenham I play left-back because of injuries. Marc Wilmots (Belgium’s manager) likes that perhaps, but I’ve got other ambitions.”
With Vlad Chiriches impressing at the start of his Tottenham career and Younes Kaboul just about returning to full fitness, the centre back positions are suddenly becoming very crowded. Jan must surely be first choice when everyone is fit but switching the Belgian to left back right now seems to solve more than just one problem.
Whoever let BAE go out on loan is a complete plank. Did they think Rose was gonna play every game?
We’ve suffered whenever Naughton has had to play there. I feel sorry for the lad cos he’s a good right back, happy to try is best on the left but is too right-footed to make an impression.
I thought Vertonghen was sulking after watching him give a few sub-standard displays at LB this season. It was almost like he was saying ‘ I’m NOT going to play at my maximum because I don’t want the manager to leave me here any longer than need be’.
I can’t say I’m too surprised by the self-serving nature of these latest comments as there is something about Jan that leads me to believe he has a sense of entitlement buried within his character.
If he feels he can help the team from that position, why doesn’t he just do it, instead of making a song and dance about it by releasing comments such as these?
I mean, everyone who watches the EPL knows Jan prefers to play at CB, so why the constant need to remind us all? Anyone would think he was being asked to play there week in, week out, for an entire season.
Vertonghen should just get his head down and do what he claims (and has proved) he can do from that position, which is help the team!
Its unfair to judge him as such when we have no clue what the context of the interview was. I agree he should place the team above himself, but the current lb predicament was brought on by the manager and director who shld have sorted it before the season started.
This is NOT the first time Jan has felt it necessary to state that he is unhappy/discontented at the prospect of playing at LB.
I think this is a MAJOR reason why Naughton has been deployed there rather than the Belgian in the past. Instead of complaining in the press about playing out of position, Jan should try focussing on making the kind of impact he did at Everton because up until that match he appeared rather half-hearted in his efforts in that role.
After all, shouldn’t his motivation be to help the TEAM reach their objectives in whichever way possible???
What article are you lot reading? All Jan’s said is he prefers playing CB than LB when asked the question by a Belgian TV Channel. If that is his opinion and he’s asked the question, then why can’t he say it???