Football News conducts a major review into the injury crisis with Spurs stadium’s retractable pitch

Spurs have carried out a major review of their performance and medical department, including an investigation into whether the retractable pitch at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is contributing to the club’s ongoing injury crisis.

Tottenham have lost the most days to injury of any team in the Premier League this season, while Spurs players have missed a combined 370 matches in all competitions through injury this campaign – the most of any top-flight side.

The club’s failure to keep players nearly fit led to their relegation as Roberto Di Zarbi’s side dramatically needed a last-day home win against Everton to ensure their Premier League safety.

It is the second injury-hit season in a row for Spurs, who have lost the most days and games to injury of any Premier League side since the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

A crippling injury list played its part in a 17th-place finish for the world’s ninth-richest football club.

It is understood the club’s new performance director, Dan LewindonAfter three months in the job a thorough review of the injury problem has been completed, and the retractable pitch at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is an area of ​​concern.

Serious knee injury Dejan Kulusevski And Radu Dragusin came home last season, when James Madison He partially tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a home win against Bodo/Glimt last May, before rupturing it completely after three months in pre-season in South Korea.

this season, Ben Davis He broke his ankle in the January defeat to West Ham Wilson Odobert He ruptured his ACL in the home defeat against Newcastle.

It is understood that Tottenham carry out regular external independent tests on their home surface to assess the bounce of the pitch compared to their training pitch, but the results to date are inconclusive.

However, more detailed testing is planned in the coming weeks to analyze whether their home surface differs from other Premier League pitches.

Along comes Tottenham’s investigation Real Madrid The new retractable pitch is also in the spotlight.

Since the reopening of the Santiago Bernabeu, the 15-time European champions have suffered an ACL injury.

Reports in Spain claim that both Real Bernabeu and their Valdebebas training ground are investigating their pitches.

The Bernabeu has only been fully reopened for three years, with Spurs playing in their £1bn state-of-the-art stadium for the past seven years, with injuries only becoming a real problem in the last two seasons.

Spurs are set to introduce a new system to deal with injuries

Since the start of the 2024/25 campaign, Tottenham have suffered 123 injuries – only north London rivals Arsenal (146) have suffered more in the Premier League over that period.

Several Spurs players have also been plagued by injuries over the past two seasons, in between Mohammed Jerusalem This is the campaign.

Spurs non-executive chairman Peter Charrington promised in an open letter to fans on Monday that there would be a “significant focus on raising standards across treatment and performance”.

Lewindon’s review is understood to have uncovered structural problems in the club’s performance set-up.

There is a belief that there is a lack of integration, communication and shared decision-making, which has led to injury and recurrence of injury.

Tottenham head coach De Zerbi personally wants a high level of support for the players.

This has prompted Lewindon to develop a small-team approach where up to six players are assigned a physio, allowing for higher quality programming and better decision-making regarding player training design and physical preparation.

Tottenham are looking to hire a psychologist for the men’s team, with the idea that it could improve communication.

Another reason for Spurs’ injury crisis is the number of managerial changes at the club.

Spurs have had four different head coaches in the space of a year – Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Franck, Igor Tudor and De Zarby – which has led to changes in player demand.

It is believed that these different training methods and techniques have increased the injury risk of Spurs players.

Spurs reject criticism of Simmons’ handling of injury

Spurs boss De Gerby has lost a player to injury in each of his first three matches Christian Romero Suffered a season-ending injury in the defeat at Sunderland. Destiny Udogi Picked up a muscular problem in the draw against Brighton, and Javi Simmons Suffered ACL injury in win over Wolves.

But Seaman’s handling of the injury came under fire from some Spurs supporters after the attacking midfielder was given an ice spray and sent back to the pitch before being stretchered off with the season-ending injury.

It is understood that Lewindon was very pleased with the medical team’s handling of the situation.

Simons wanted to continue at Molineux, and with difficult ACL tests performed at pitchside, the decision to allow him to return to action was deemed correct by the club.

It is understood there was no further damage to Simmons, who is set to return next season when Spurs will hope their injury crisis is resolved.

Maddison has called for an investigation into Spurs’ injury woes

Maddison has called for Spurs to investigate the “astronomical” injury problems that have plagued the squad this season.

The playmaker, restricted to three appearances off the bench at the end of the campaign, is one of six Spurs players to have suffered a serious knee injury since January 2025.

Speaking after Sunday’s last-day win over Everton, Maddison said: “We’ve had a worse injury situation than any other club.

“People try and say, ‘Oh, but we got this and that’. But we have astronomers, and we have to see why.

“Sometimes it’s just bad luck, sometimes it’s a coincidence, like me doing my ACL or (Dejan) Kulusevski getting a horrible knock off (Mark) Guehi.

“It’s not the medical team, it’s not the pitch or all the theory you see, sometimes it’s rubbish.”

Maddison believes that Spurs, who only secured their Premier League safety on finals day, would never have been in that position had their key players been fit.

“We were a little bit unlucky,” Madison added. “But like I said, the big names we’ve missed, it affects you and you can’t deny it.

“Myself, Kulusevski and (Mohamed) Kudus, and (Rodrigo) Bentancur missed three months and whatnot. If you had them for the whole season, we wouldn’t be in this situation, I firmly believe.

“It’s not just me, it’s just a reality. But it’s the situation we find ourselves in, and I’m proud of the guys digging deep today.”