The last two weekends of the Barclays Premier League have been unhappy ones for Tottenham Hotspur.
A draw and a defeat against relegation strugglers Burnley and Aston Villa has left morale amongst fans and players very low. Jan Vertonghen's absence in both of these games certainly dented the chances of the North London club in these fixtures.
Vertonghen signed for Spurs in the summer of 2012 from Ajax, where he had established himself as a premier ball playing central defender. Despite enduring a dip in form last season, the Belgian has clearly established himself this season as Spurs’ first choice centre back and as a fan favourite.
The Belgian's strengths lie in his distribution. He is very comfortable in receiving the ball in tight areas and then spreading the ball wide or to the deeper lying midfielders.
The 27-year old is also very adept at dribbling with the ball out of defence, although this has been the cause of his demise from time to time as it can leave him helplessly out of position. These skills allow him to inject energy into attacks from an early stage which is clearly part of Pochettino's high tempo philosophy.
His calming influence has certainly been missed in the previous two games, with Vlad Chiriches and Federico Fazio having to deputise in his absence.
While Chiriches’ pace is a useful attribute in central defence, he can be very clumsy with the ball and wasteful in possession, which further invites pressure onto him from the opposition. This was particularly evident in his poor showing at full back against Aston Villa.
While Fazio certainly doesn’t have the ball playing prowess that Vertonghen does, his superior positioning and aerial capabilities make him a worthy competitor to Eric Dier as the other centre back.
Fazio's performance against Chelsea on New Year’s Day was a memorable one for Spurs supporters. That day he used his aggression brilliantly to keep Diego Costa out of the game, and although he was at fault for Chelsea’s second, it didn’t detract from what was a very strong defensive performance against very good opposition.
However, on Saturday, the Argentine allowed Christian Benteke to get free and head home , which arguably wouldn’t have happened had Vertonghen been present.
Despite the options Spurs have in defence, they still concede too many goals which makes it very difficult for the team to win games - as perfectly exemplified by the 4-3 win against Leicester at White Hart Lane, which should have been a routine win.
This problem must be addressed in the summer, through the acquisition of new players, tactical tweaking or through toil on the training pitches.
Kevin Wimmer and Benedikt Höwedes have been strongly linked with the club recently – Spurs fans will be hoping that, if pursued, these players may form the answer to their recent defensive woes.
Vertonghen certainly has a future at Spurs with many fans tipping him to be the next club captain, yet his partnership’s with the club’s other centre backs are yet to fully flourish and for this reason it may be the task of Paul Mitchell and Mauricio Pochettino to find a defensive partner for him who complements his elegant style.
Vertonghen is set to be in contention for this weekend’s game, along with treasured stopper Hugo Lloris who has also missed two games.
Spurs will hope they return to their previous form quickly, as difficult opposition in the form of Southampton and Manchester City await in the coming weeks.