U17 national team player Lucas Bergvall, shown here in a recent qualifier against Chelsea FC. It was this injury that unfortunately forced him to come off in only the seventh minute. He was knocked unconscious on the field after being hit in the head with the baseball, necessitating on-site emergency medical treatment. Due to the injury, Bergvall will be out for next week’s matches against Copenhagen and Manchester United.
The result had Tottenham reeling. At the other end of the pitch, Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven made headlines by allegedly snubbing boss Thomas Frank at full-time. As the two players marched past Frank and into the tunnel, they acted as if he weren’t there. This behavior provoked an immediate response by the supervisor.
Injury Update on Lucas Bergvall
Bergvall’s knee injury is a huge blow to Tottenham’s squad depth as they face a difficult fixture pile-up. The young player’s concussion means he will not participate in the upcoming match against Copenhagen and will miss Saturday’s home encounter with Manchester United.
Thomas Frank was the first to confirm the sad news. Currently, for the team the focus lies on recharging, recovering and looking forward to the next match ahead. He said that he wasn’t really worried about Bergvall. He mentioned that Djed Spence, Micky van de Ven and Mohammed Kudus all picked up small injuries in the loss, but should be available for Tuesday’s game.
“We all have a perception of why it happened. That was my first question: how were they and why?” – Thomas Frank
Player welfare has been a priority for Frank, who will work to keep a close watch on player fitness. The absence of Bergvall poses a challenge for the team as they look to bounce back from their recent loss.
Apology from Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven
After the match day debacle, Frank took to social media to voice his regrets that Spence and Van de Ven didn’t greet him in the first place. Still, both players went above and beyond by seeking out Frank to come to his office to apologize for what happened.
“Micky and Djed came into my office yesterday and just said they wanted to say sorry for the situation. They didn’t want it to look bad or disrespectful,” – Thomas Frank
Frank really valued the gesture, saying that their actions showed how much they cared about the team and the club. Specifically, he commended the positive tone of their dialogue. Combined with the away matches on the calendar, this created a deep and unshakeable bond between those players.
“It means they care, they care about the team and the club and in this case, me. That was very good. We had a good talk about a lot of things,” – Thomas Frank
The manager’s readiness to tackle the issue head on with his players shows how much he cares about defusing that locker room tension.
Team Performance and Future Outlook
Tottenham’s embarrassing capitulation to Chelsea over the weekend had supporters and pundits calling for the manager’s head. The under-pressure team’s xG figure fell to 0.05, the lowest recorded since Opta began tracking such statistics back in the 2012-13 campaign. This pretty appalling statistic points to an urgent opportunity for advancement.
Guglielmo Vicario joined Thomas Frank to speak to the media ahead of Thursday’s European clash with Copenhagen. Both made it clear that lessons must be learned from what went well and what didn’t and look ahead to the challenge before us.
“In every environment, there are very good people and some are bad people,” – Guglielmo Vicario
As Spurs head into their next match, unity and clear communication will be key in moving past their recent disappointments. But players such as Spence, Van de Ven and Kudus are now returning. How those three return will largely determine how aggressive (or not) the team should be over the next few seasons.
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