Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-0 to Ajax at home in the Champions League semi-finals first leg this week and it was a bad day at the office for Mauricio Pochettino.
The Lilywhites were outclassed and outplayed during the first half of the match and things got even worse when they lost Jan Vertonghen to a head injury right before the half-hour mark.
Jan Vertonghen suffered a head injury which battling for an ariel ball but after removing the blood and some initial treatment, the Spurs medical staff gave a thumbs up meaning the defender was ready to get back onto the pitch.
That though did not happen as Jan Vertonghen started throwing up and had to be carried off the pitch with what looked to be a concussion.
And this hastiness from the Spurs medical team to throw the defender back onto the pitch has not gone down too well in the footballing world and there is a possibility that this incident might just usher in a big change in the rules of the game.
After the Jan Vertonghen injury, brain injury charity Headway have urged the football authorities to introduce “temporary concussion substitutions” so that the injured player can be assessed without any sort of urgency.
Headway spokesman Luke Griggs said in a statement(as reported): “We believe the time has come for football to introduce temporary concussion substitutions that would allow for longer off-pitch assessments to be conducted.
“Concussion is notoriously difficult to diagnose.
“The symptoms may be hidden and require the individual to be honest about how they’re feeling, while they can also be delayed in their presentation.
“Assessing a player for three minutes — or even five, as was the case with Jan Vertonghen — does not allow for medical staff to make a reliable diagnosis, particularly when this is conducted on the pitch under the gaze of tens of thousands of fans eager for the game to resume.
“The pressure on club medical staff is enormous and unfair, particularly in such high-stakes games as a Champions League semi-final.”
Referees have always taken excessive care whenever there is a head injury during a game but once the player goes off the pitch, the concerned team have to play with 10 men which means there is an urgency to throw send him back as soon as possible.
And this hastiness might often lead to bad decisions just like in the case of Jan Vertonghen.
Some reports are claiming that UEFA are actually considering the rolling substitution option pretty seriously and there might just be a discussion on this topic during the next meeting.
