Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has shared the status of James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, and Rodrigo Bentancur, offering insights into their recovery timelines following injury setbacks.
Maddison and van de Ven sustained injuries during a clash against Chelsea, with Maddison’s initially deemed minor ankle injury proving more severe, ruling him out for the remainder of the year.
Van de Ven meanwhile got lucky as he did not need a surgery on his hamstring injury which would have kept him out for a longer period. He was expected to return in February.
Rodrigo Bentancur has been the unluckiest of all. He was out since February with a long-term injury and finally made a return in November. Unfortunately, in his first start since injury, he suffered an ankle injury after a wild tackle from Matty Cash which sidelined him for another couple of months.
Postecoglou provided an update ahead of the Everton game, suggesting van de Ven shows promising progress and might rejoin the team early in January.
Maddison and Bentancur are also on track for January returns, likely toward the latter part of the month.
Addressing the trio’s rehabilitation progress, Postecoglou emphasised the unpredictability of recovery timelines in the final phases. He stressed that until they resume training with the first team, definitive predictions remain challenging.
He said (via Football London):
“Hard to say. They’re both in rehab and neither of them are anywhere near training with the first team at the moment. If you look at timelines, Micky and Madders did it in pretty much in the same game. Micky might be just ahead of schedule in terms of with Madders. Both kind of January and Bentancur fairly similar.”
“It’s not about trying to not give out information, these things kind of either accelerate or get delayed when you get into the final phase. Until I see them out with us, it’s hard for me to say.”
TBH Says:
The worst seems to be past us. We were at out best when everyone was fit and our form only derailed after the injuries to our key players.
With Van de Ven, Maddison, and Bentancur all expected back next month, combined with our regained form, things are looking exciting.
