The North Londoners got a massive boost for the remainder of the season given the return of the vice-captain Cristian Romero at the weekend, where the Argentine centre back made his highly awaited comeback in the Lilywhites draw against Bournemouth (FT: 2-2) at the weekend. It was a lengthy spell on the sidelines; the World Cup winner has missed 27 games owing to multiple injuries in the ongoing season, which also includes a while serving in the treatment room with a hamstring problem.

But now he has returned, and what perfect timing it is, just before the much-anticipated game of the Tottenham Hotspur season, as they go into the second leg of the critical tie against AZ Alkmaar in the knockout Europa League tie.

And following his first game back donning the Spurs badge, the former Atalanta centre-back took to social media to express his emotions and joy to take the field again and wrote about how he, alongside his teammates, is committed to turning their season around. He also went on to express his gratefulness to the medical staff of the Argentina national team for aiding his recovery.

Taking to Instagram, he wrote:

“After a difficult period full of things that happened in the middle, I am back with the group and happy to be able to help the team. There is certainly a lot to correct and work on, but we are together and eager to turn this situation around. See you on Thursday, we will come back stronger than ever, all together.

“Thankful to the physiotherapists of Selección Argentina (@afaseleccionfor) getting me out of a bad moment and for putting me back on the field where I am so happy. Thank you all for the support always”

Is medical team at N17 failing?

At the moment, his return comes at an ideal time and will be a big boost to the North Londoners supporters and how he can cement the cracks in the faltering Lilywhites defence. But does this highlight a deeper concern?

The fact that Cristian Romero had to consult and rely on the medical staff at the Argentine national team raises questions about the standards at Hotspur Way. There are already a lot of injuries at N17, and if the players have to consult external medical and physiotherapy teams, then it shows there are underlying problems at the club. You’d think this is a one-time exception, but that is not the case—this situation is not isolated to only Romero; Brazilian forward Richarlison, who is a consistent presence on the sidelines, also went on to take medical assistance outside Hotspur Way, given that he went on to consult with the medical team at Palmeiras to try to address his own injury concerns.

Time for a medical overhaul at Hotspur Way?

Now if this trend of players taking treatment from outside shows that there is a broader problem within Tottenham’s sports science and medical departments. You can have all the state-of-the-art infrastructures to show off to the world, but then if you don’t have personnel with equivalent quality, it’s not going to reap dividends. This is the second consecutive season that the North Londoners have faced serious injury problems, where multiple players of the first team have served the treatment room for a prolonged time, and this raises questions about the effectiveness of the current injury management and rehabilitation processes in place at Hotspur Way.

But it’s not only the injury department, is it?

Is Ange to blame for causing injuries?

Ange Postecoglou has introduced an all-out attack playing style at N17, one that has been highly criticised by the pundits and the supporters given how it evades the stability out of the team. But the Australian head coach has remained with his philosophies, and this is something that includes the players having to run all around for ninety minutes at a great intensity, which takes a toll on their bodies.

And while many have been blaming Daniel Levy for not getting more depth in the squad, if you look at how Celtic suffered with depth and injuries during his time in Scotland, it also highlights how the problems could be underlying with the style of play that Postecoglou has deployed.

What now?

For now, the fact that players are relying on external medical professionals for recovery shows that the current setup at Hotspur Way needs to be changed; it raises a deepening question: does the entire sports science department at N17 require an overhaul? According to me, Daniel Levy should make it a priority to address these problems and ensure that the players (who are the most important asset( receive the best possible care and rehabilitation to first minimise risks of injuries (and enhancing their performances) but also ensure that if any injury is incurred its resolved before time.

More Tottenham Hotspur News:

• TTLB Opinion: Is Postecoglou the reason behind Maddison’s underwhelming season at Tottenham?
• TTLB Opinion: Tottenham target Branthwaite and Guehi – but who makes more sense?
• TTLB Opinion: USNMT ace leaving Tottenham talks to his father, but where does he fit at N17 under Ange Postecoglou?

We have time and again seen all the big as well as small clubs trying to evaluate their sports science and medical departments, and it is time that Tottenham invest in a robust medical team and modern rehabilitation facilities, especially if they want to compete at the highest level.