Pochettino: good news for Vertonghen injury, bad news for Lamela

There’s good news and there’s bad news on the Tottenham Hotspur injury front. Mauricio Pochettino suggested in a press conference that Jan Vertonghen may not be out for as long as what was initially expected.

That is pretty fantastic news, all things considered. Previous reports had suggested that Super Jan had a grade 2 or 3 tear to the ligaments in his ankle, and it was thought that could keep him out for as long as ten weeks. Six weeks is still a long time without Spurs’ second best defender, but considering the alternative that’s a heck of a lot easier to stomach. (That said, Pochettino frequently lies about the status of his injured players, so let’s all just tack on a couple extra weeks for good measure. We’ll call it eight weeks out.)

Unfortunately, the good news does not extend to Erik Lamela. Spurs’ attacking midfielder has been out with a hip condition for a couple of months now, and Spurs even sent him back to Roma in the hopes that his old physio and the magic of the Italian sunshine could jump-start his rehabilitation.

Not so much. Poch said that Lamela is due for another scan tomorrow, and implied his recuperation is still not going well, which brings up the scary possibility that there’s something seriously wrong with him.

Spurs are heading to the Etihad to play Manchester City on Saturday in another big match that will be a stiff test of their title-contending bonafides. They’ve coped quite well to Lamela’s absence, it must be said, and it remains to be seen how Pochettino will adapt to the absence of Vertonghen in defense.

Pochettino also just wrapped up a Q&A of fan questions on Facebook, which you can watch below. The questions actually start about 12 minutes in.