Jan Vertonghen finally speaks out after rumours of fall-out with Pochettino

Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal shared the points yesterday in the North London Derby, despite the fact that Spurs were leading 2-0 towards the end of the first half.

However, Spurs fans would have been getting excited well before a ball was kicked at the Emirates, as fan favourite and senior centre-back, Jan Vertonghen, returned to the starting line up.

This was Jan’s first appearance in a Spurs shirt this season, with Pochettino dropping him from the squad completely in game one and leaving him on the bench for the next two.

This sparked rumours that Poch and Vertonghen had fallen out (Express), but the Mirror claim that the Belgian defender was quick to deny that, stating that he respects the manager.

There were also claims that Vertonghen was dropped due to his poor fitness (Daily Mail), but the player was also keen to correct that rumour, stating that he came back to training fully fit.

Vertonghen said (Mirror): “Yeah, very, very happy to be back. He (Pochettino) said before the first game against Villa it was a tactical decision and I respect that decision.

“No, no, no (it was not fitness related). I came back fit. I played in every pre-season game and I didn’t miss a session. Like the manager explained, it was a tactical decision and we players have to accept his decisions.

“I’m experienced and fit enough to get back into the rhythm and it was just the goal before half-time that gave them the spirit to get back in the game.

“If we just killed the first half and go into the dressing room with that good feeling it’s a different game.

“I think we did well, we defended well, we were good in possession, created loads of chances, were 2-0 up so it was just great in this derby away. So we have to go in the dressing room 2-0 up.”

Related Topics