Jan Vertonghen says he's "fine" after a head-to-head collision

One of the scariest moments of Tottenham's 0-1 defeat against Ajax in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals came in the first period, after a collision Fragging frontal left Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld on the ground. moving. Jan had the worst: when he headed for the goal, he accidentally hit his nose against the back of Toby's head. He bled profusely for several minutes and was treated by Spurs physios.

But it was not the worst: Vertonghen got up and, after being examined by the medical staff and questioned by the match official, he was allowed (after a change of shirt) to return to the field. But it was very obvious when he started walking that he was not doing well. Jan was abducted, then almost fainted on the sideline and needed the help of two coaches to borrow the tunnel.

It was not a fun time to look at soon after and the obvious conclusion was that Jan had suffered some kind of concussion. He was legitimately replaced by Moussa Sissoko.

We have an update on the state of Jan and, according to the Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur, it's a good thing: Jan is doing well, apparently, and no serious and lasting damage has been suffered.

Skeptical about this report? Well, you should be! What we saw on the field with Vertonghen is super woozy, then it was very scary to have to get help. We already know that the English football concussion protocols, even if they start to improve, remain very suspicious. It is not very difficult to look for examples of players who continued to play after a head injury when they had no business in the field. Hugo Lloris had one of those incidents a few years ago against Everton when he was kicked in Romelu Lukaku's head and got the green light to keep playing.

However, even if you must absolutely be skeptical about the fact that a player says "I'm fine" after having sunk his nose into the back of Toby Alderweireld's skull, "having passed all the concussion tests "seems to have some weight behind the doctor's opinion. (This is the main question of whether these concussion tests are sufficient.)

I've heard rumors that Jan might have got goosebumps because of a blood loss while he was on the ground and not a concussion-related injury brain. I do not know if that's true, but it's a possibility. And to be clear, I am perfectly satisfied with Jan's health and safety in this case. It should be carefully checked, and if it does not come back to me, probably should not play against Bournemouth.

But it's not mine, nor any of us. And in the end, we will have to follow the recommendations of Spurs medical staff to the word that they are doing the right thing for Vertonghen. I hope Jan is as good as he says it. We will have to wait and see for the moment.

Update: Mauricio Pochettino spoke about Vertonghen's situation during the post-match press conference. Here are his words, without comment.

"Our medical staff followed the protocol. I have never been involved. decision [to let Jan return] was the doctor. The referee asked, and the action was that we had to release him because he was not feeling well.

"I do not know, [Jan] has come out of the stage now. I hope he's fine, you have to keep your eyes on him and watch him because that was a big shot though. For the moment, he's fine.

"The moment you're focused on the game and it's hard to think too much. Right now, you have to let the doctor or medical staff do their work. Of course, I was afraid it was normal because for me the most important is the health of the player before the game. At that time, the doctor decided that everything was fine. I will never be involved, I was not in the past and I will not be in the future. For me, it is always the health of the player before the game, if from the beginning, I am told: "change, change", I will not doubt. For me, in this type of situation, the medical staff and the doctor are the only ones responsible for the decision. I only need to listen and hear what they say and make the decision. I will never debate or question the decision of the medical staff. "