Fit-Again Toby Alderweireld’s Impact Is Already Being Felt by Tottenham Hotspur

When Toby Alderweireld signed for Tottenham Hotspur in summer 2015, the club produced a video instructing fans how to correctly pronounce his surname.

Once heard a few times, it is not too difficult to say, but compared to some of his team-mates’ names, it is a mouthful. It certainly does not lend itself to being adapted the simplistic repertoire of football songs and chants commonly heard performed by fans these days (though this writer thinks Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” is ripe for adaptation).

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This is the only reason you have not heard Alderweireld’s name more around White Hart Lane and other grounds for Spurs games recently, because in a full-blown case of absence making the heart grow fonder, the defender became even more popular during his recent injury layoff.

The subsequent sample size is admittedly small, but two-and-a-half games into his return, Alderweireld has already served a reminder of his value to the Tottenham cause.

The Belgium international missed 10 games in all competitions while out.

Spurs got by reasonably well in the Premier League, remaining unbeaten until late November, but appeared to miss his assured presence in the different surrounds of the Champions League. However, it is questionable how much difference he would have been made in the deciding game against a Monaco onslaught precipitated by manager Mauricio Pochettino’s narrow midfield setup.

“It was difficult to see the team play in the Champions League and big games in the Premier League as well,” Alderweireld told Tottenham’s official website earlier in December. “You want to try to help the team, but that gave me a reason to work hard and come back as quickly as possible.”

That process was not an easy one. After initially getting injured during a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion (the game was still scoreless at his departure), what was hoped to have been a swift return proved complicated.

As well as the motivation of playing again, Alderweireld was pushed on by a still-demanding schedule.

“It was a tough two months, because it’s not been a usual injury, but I worked hard so as soon as the muscle and nerve starting working again, I could be fit to play again,” he recalled upon his return.

“When you are injured at Spurs, you have to work very hard! That’s a good thing, because when you are back, you are fully fit. I put a lot of effort in, and I’m happy to be back. I just want to help the team in the next few weeks.”

Fit as the work had got him, Alderweireld’s return in the 3-1 win over CSKA Moscow was necessary to, as Pochettino put it, “feel competition again.”

The reception he received from the Spurs fans at Wembley upon his 68th-minute introduction was one of the best you will hear for an individual, a real testament to his popularity. Had he converted a Georges-Kevin Nkoudou cross later on, it would have really been a special night for the 27-year-old.

Overall, Alderweireld’s 25 minutes …

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