Darren Bent thinks Tottenham’s season was derailed because of two key reasons

Darren Bent has claimed that losing both James Maddison and Micky van de Ven to long-term injuries in November derailed Tottenham’s season, with Ange Postecoglou’s men struggling to recover from that.

Tottenham started the season like a house on fire and were sitting at the top of the table in November, with some Spurs fans even dreaming of a potential title title at the time.

However, the London derby against Chelsea proved to be the start of the Lilywhites’ downfall as they lost both Maddison and Van de Ven to injuries in that game while Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both picked up red cards in the encounter.

In the end, a nine-man Tottenham side lost the game 4-1 and that result stopped their momentum, with the North London side struggling to pick up consistent results over the second half of the season.

Even when the likes of Maddison and Van de Ven returned to action three months later, Spurs never quite managed to find the kind of rhythm and confidence that they played with at the start of the campaign, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification.

Injuries cost Tottenham across the 2023/24 season

Bent believes that Tottenham would have finished in the top four had they not lost two key players to injuries at a crucial point of the campaign.

While in conversation with Maddison, the former Spurs striker told talkSPORT: “I think injuries came for you lot at the wrong time. At the start of the season, you lot were flying, you (Maddison) was flying and van de Ven was flying.

“You picked up the injury. Van de Ven got a hamstring injury. You had your most effective players all injured at the same time. That probably derailed you as well. You only missed out on the Champions League by two points. You keep the rest of your players fit, then you probably get it.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Injuries are a part of football and one can argue that the way the chances of muscle injuries are considerable for players when they play with the kind of intensity that Ange demands.

That is why we need a big squad with quality backups in each position, particularly given that we are back in Europe next season.