Ange Postecoglou will feel that he was unjustly criticised for Tottenham’s injury problems.
Tottenham suffered an unprecedented crisis last season, ranking second only to Brighton in the Premier League for both the number of injuries sustained and days lost to injury.
Postecoglou bore the brunt of the blame for the setbacks, with his physically demanding play style and training methods repeatedly called into question.
There has already been an overhaul of the medical staff at Hotspur Way, but it has yet to bear fruit, as Thomas Frank faces his latest fitness concerns.
Tottenham players skip Asia pre-season tour with injuries
When Frank walked through the doors in N17, he was already greeted by a handful of injured players, as James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Radu Dragusin were all still recovering from setbacks sustained during the previous season.
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He was thankful to find Lucas Bergvall had returned to full fitness, while Richarlison recovered in time to feature in Saturday’s pre-season friendly against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday (26 July).
However, Dominic Solanke was absent from Spurs’ trip to Luton later that day, while Destiny Udogie pulled out of the starting lineup after “feeling something in the warmup”, according to Frank.
When Frank announced the squad for the pre-season tour in Asia (27 July), there were plenty of notable absences, including the Italian left-back.
Udogie, along with Kota Takai and Manor Solomon, have all stayed back at Hotspur Way to receive further treatment for their respective injuries.
This will be a red flag for Frank, who will fear that history is repeating itself, despite his insistence that his focus in training was to build robustness in the squad.
While the Australian will wish no harm to his counterpart, Postecoglou may feel a little vindicated at the fact that injuries are still prevalent since his departure.
Tottenham’s transfer strategy adapted to avoid injuries
One notable change that Spurs have made to combat future fitness issues is that the North Londoners have targeted players with solid appearance records.
Mohammed Kudus did not miss a single game in two years at West Ham due to injury, while Mathys Tel has spent less than a month on the treatment table over the same period.
Frank’s insistence on signing players with Premier League experience is not just to ensure they can successfully adapt, but also to be sure that they can handle the physical demands of England’s top flight.
It points to a movement away from signing players like Bryan Gil, who have proven not to be robust enough to succeed.