The Tottenham head coach watched on as his much-changed side were torn apart in the first-half by David Moyes‘ Everton side and ultimately failed to secure a comeback result.
It was another roll of the dice by Postecoglou with his team as he again made two changes for the trip to Merseyside amid an ever-growing list of injury complaints that has stripped the Spurs chief of key players.
Since Postecoglou arrived to replace Antonio Conte, injuries have been a consistent part of the Australian’s efforts to win silverware at the barren club.
His innovative all-out attack style was praised during the first few months of his tenure, but now questions are being raised over his refusal to change approach amidst a spate of injuries and Spurs dropping closer to the relegation zone.
But injuries aren’t new to Tottenham as Mail Sport delves into the stats behind the club’s jam-packed medical room.
Pressure continues to mount on Ange Postecoglou as Spurs slumped to 15th in the Premier League standings
Injuries continue to mount up for Spurs this season with 11 key first-team stars currently injured
Guglielmo Vicario is amongst Spurs’ injury complaints after suffering a serious injury that required surgery
Prior to his arrival after Postecoglou decided to cut ties with Celtic, it was another season of muscle complaints, strains, aches and bruises for Spurs as they looked to challenge for European football.
The result of Conte’s demanding and high-energy football along with key stars being rushed back saw Spurs end the 2022/23 season with more injuries than every other team barring Chelsea, Man United, and Nottingham Forest.
Spurs ended the campaign with 35 players being unavailable at some point in the season as with injured stars missed a total of 132 games and 1085 days of competitive action.
Tottenham’s first-team also averaged 7.8 injuries per 1000 minutes as they finished eighth in the Premier League standings.
Postecoglou’s arrival did improve results and performances, but injuries were still rife as his squad suffered 37 injuries over the course of the season with many of those unavailable being key players.
SPURS’ CURRENT INJURED STARS
Guglielmo Vicario (ankle/foot)
Destiny Udogie (thigh)
Brennan Johnson (calf/heel)
Timo Werner (thigh)
Rodrigo Bentancur (head)
Cristian Romero (thigh)
Micky van de Ven (thigh)
Yves Bissouma (other)
Fraser Forster (illness)
Wilson Odobert (thigh)
Spurs also topped the chart for the most individual players picking up injuries that season with 22 separate stars unavailable at some time or another in the year.
The constant trend of progressively injury-prone years continues this season with Spurs leading the way with 11 players currently unavailable for selection as they recover from complaints.
To make matters worse for Postecoglou and his coaching team is that eight of those stars would likely slot straight into Tottenham’s strongest XI.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Yves Bissouma are amongst the cohort.
