Tottenham outrage at treatment of injured Dominic Solanke: ‘Really annoys me’
Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke was “in a bad way” and should have been treated with more care after going off injured, according to Jamie O’Hara.
Spurs lost the first-leg of their Europa League tie with AZ Alkmaar, after Lucas Bergvall scored an unfortunate own-goal.
However, despite the young Swedish midfielder’s gaffe, James Maddison was singled out as an under-performer by O’Hara.
Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel were also disappointing for Tottenham, and Ange Postecoglou will want to see a much better response from his players when the two sides meet again on 13 March.
Dominic Solanke ‘might have fractured his spine’ after late injury
Having come on in the 71st minute, Solanke was largely ineffectual against AZ, which was to be somewhat expected, given he was only just returning from an injury layoff.
In the 91st minute, the former Bournemouth striker challenged the keeper for the ball, before dropping to the floor, with a hand on his back.
With Solanke clearly in a lot of pain, Postecoglou replaced his striker with Dane Scarlett, but the medical crew decided against using a stretcher, much to the annoyance of O’Hara on Sky Sports News (7.37pm): “They’ve took him off and he’s limping round, but it annoys me when a player’s, you know, he’s got to walk 60-70 yards. Get a stretcher.
“You don’t know, he might have fractured his spine, you’re not actually sure what he’s done here. He’s in a bad way.
| Match stats | AZ Alkmaar | Tottenham |
| Possession | 39% | 61% |
| Expected goals | 1.57 | 0.44 |
| Shots (on target) | 12 (5) | 7 (1) |
| Big chances (missed) | 4 (4) | 1 (1) |
| Corners | 7 | 2 |
“It really annoys me they don’t get a stretcher out to get him off the pitch because it seems like he’s in a lot of pain.
“Im hoping he’s just got that really bad whack and he’ll be okay. It’s gonna be sore that’s for sure but they’ve had to take him off and he couldn’t continue.
“Disappointing again if you lose him, that’s for sure.”
Following the loss, Postecoglou assured Tottenham fans the injury suffered by his striker was not a serious one.
Tottenham’s up-and-down form continues with loss to AZ Alkmaar
Football Insider Verdict
This season, it has genuinely felt like Tottenham can win any game, and potentially lose all of them.
Wins against Man United (three times), Man City (twice), Aston Villa and Liverpool show there is genuine quality, not only in the playing staff, but also in the way Postecoglou sets up his team.
The flipside is losses to Everton, Ipswich, Galatasaray, and Leicester, with Tottenham being absolutely outclassed in a number of those games.
Why does it go so right, and then so wrong? A major issue has been injuries, which have played a big part in Spurs’ season, with most of the squad spending some time on the side-lines.
However, another problem is the tactical set-up. Tottenham have a team that loves to play with space ahead of them, winning the ball back and countering quickly.
Without their full-strength side, teams have found a solution to stopping Spurs, sitting back and mirroring their style, ceding possession in favour of playing for counter-attacks.
That style was on display for AZ on Thursday evening, the Dutch side allowed Tottenham to have 61% of the ball, and in doing so, created four big chances, to Spurs’ one.