Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen was recalled on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has told The Telegraph that he absolutely wasn’t left out of the Spurs side due to fitness concerns.
The Belgian centre back was bizarrely left out of the Tottenham side to face Aston Villa on the opening day of the Premier League season, and he wasn’t even named on the bench either.
Finally, Vertonghen was recalled on Sunday, starting in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal having been sat on the sidelines for the first three games of the season.
Vertonghen didn’t miss a beat, looking solid alongside Toby Alderweireld though he was beaten by Alexandre Lacazette for Arsenal’s first goal.
Hopefully, Vertonghen will now have his role in the Spurs defence nailed down once again, but concerns linger over his position with the club.
The 32-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season, and there have been claims that he was ‘fuming’ with Pochettino for leaving him out.
The Daily Mail stated that Vertonghen was outraged at being left out for ‘fitness reasons’, with Pochettino allegedly unimpressed with his condition from pre-season.
Vertonghen has now strongly denied those claims, suggesting that Pochettino’s decision was purely tactical as he played every game in pre-season and never missed a single training session.
“I came back fit,” said Vertonghen. “I played in every pre-season game and I did not miss a session. Like the manager explained before the first game against Villa, it was a tactical decision and I respect that decision. We players have to accept his decisions. I am very, very happy to be back.”
“When you don’t play, you realise how important it is and it’s extremely important for me. I’ve been so long with the guys, I love the club and I just want to play as much as I can. I feel great and I just want to help the club to win trophies,” he added.
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