Tottenham rocked with Alderweireld sidelined until after Christmas - but welcome faces return

Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld is set to be sidelined until after Christmas, with his hamstring injury proving to be more serious than was initially thought.

The Belgian centre-back limped out of Spurs’ 3-1 victory over Real Madrid earlier this month. And, having been absent for the following match against Crystal Palace, he is now due to miss at least the next 10 games as well, including the trip to Manchester City on December 16.

“We expect longer than we previously [thought] when the problem happened,” said Pochettino. “Maybe after Christmas – that is the expectation.

“He feels normal – disappointed. It’s a little bit sad but in the same way he’s focused now on trying to recover as soon as possible. He’s working hard, in the first stage of rehab. We’re happy but with this type of injury we must be cautious, and it’s a process of time. We need to wait.”

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The good news for Tottenham is that five players returned to first-team training today ahead of Saturday’s north London derby against Arsenal – Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Harry Winks plus the club’s top two goalkeepers, Hugo Lloris and Michel Vorm.

“We’re happy because today they met the team and for the first time all the players arrived from the international break, and we need to assess all of them tomorrow,” said Pochettino.

“We have one training session more. We’re optimistic but we need to wait and analyse every single case. I hope tomorrow we can count on them for the game but still we need to decide between the medical staff, sport science team and us.

“If they cannot play on Saturday it’s sure they’re close to playing on Tuesday or next weekend. It’s not a big issue like Toby.

“We have a lot of international players. They arrived yesterday and today and it’s difficult to prepare for the game.

“That’s why the pre-season is so important, and it’s so important to sign the players from the beginning of the transfer market, not at the end, because this is the only moment you have to prepare the team and provide them with better tools for how you want them to play. I cannot complain about that though because we’re all in the same situation.”

Tottenham are gearing up for a fierce derby battle against their bitter rivals at the Emirates, but there was no war-mongering from Pochettino at his pre-match press conference. Instead, he was keen to stress his respect for Gunners boss Arsene Wenger.

“For me he deserves full credit,” said the Argentinian. “For me, in football history he’s one of the great managers, at the same level as [Sir Alex] Ferguson.

“[It doesn’t matter] what happens today, yesterday, one year ago or in the future, he’ll always be a special manager. To stay 20 years in a club and stay always at the top, it’s not easy and that is why, for me, it’s a reason to admire him.

“To stay one year or two years in a club and then move to another and then move again, ok, people don’t know you and always you can motivate. But to keep the motivation more than three years, it’s so difficult.

“To do it for five years, you must be very good. It’s very good if you are there for 10 years, but 20 years, it’s amazing. Everyone who talks about him needs to show respect first of all, and then it’s opinions about football.

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“Ferguson and him, they’re managers that I always looked at. All that they achieved and built in their clubs, it was very useful and important to have the knowledge about what they were doing in this time. That is, for us, a challenge. Why not stay here five or 10 years? It would be fantastic.

“Wenger was an innovator. I think he was ahead of everyone, like Ferguson was. Now it’s difficult to innovate in football but you must always try, to innovate every season, to create a project where your ideas and philosophy go ahead of different clubs – and they were, and Wenger is. He’s in the present. That’s why the respect and admiration is high from me.”

Christian Eriksen will be a key threat for Tottenham at the Emirates, and he goes into the clash in fine form after scoring a hat-trick for Denmark against Republic of Ireland in midweek, thereby booking his country’s place at the World Cup.

His national manager Age Hareide said after the match that Eriksen is one of the top 10 players in the world, and Pochettino stated: “Of course in that moment, when you are so excited and with the performance from Christian, you put him in the top 10 for sure after that game.

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“He’s such an important player for us. We’re so happy and so proud, because it’s so important for him to be in the next World Cup.

“It’s fantastic for us, fantastic for him. It’s a massive achievement and when you see the game, the goals, it’s unbelievable, the quality he showed.

“But I don’t want to publicise him because you know what happens after. The manager put the focus from other clubs on Christian. I don’t want to say he’s a fantastic player. Ok, he’s an average player.”

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