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Jan Vertonghen

Glad JV is back but such a shame Sanchez has a few more weeks to go. He was the only one that played against City then West Ham 2 days later and he’s paid for it. At least we have Foyth.
 
Glad JV is back but such a shame Sanchez has a few more weeks to go. He was the only one that played against City then West Ham 2 days later and he’s paid for it. At least we have Foyth.

Will be a nice boost if he's back for the Christmas period.
 
such a shame Sanchez has a few more weeks to go. He was the only one that played against City then West Ham 2 days later and he’s paid for it
Agreed - it seems true that our players are playing and training at their maximum i.e. if they play that little bit extra for Spurs or their national teams, they snap something.
 
Evening Standard

Jan Vertonghen is a steely competitor, but there is one challenge he has been avoiding for 19 years: facing Mousa Dembele over a chess board. Although the Tottenham team-mates share a passion for chess, dating back to their academy days, they have never dared discover who is the more accomplished player.

“We both love chess and we’ve known each other since 12,” says Vertonghen. “But we’ve never played because we hate losing against each other that much. We play every game together — apart from chess. The fear of losing is too big. I think I’d win, but he thinks the same. We both don’t want to risk it.”

Vertonghen estimates that he, Dembele and Belgium team-mate Thomas Vermaelen spent nearly 100 hours playing backgammon at this summer’s World Cup, so why such caution when it comes to chess?

“It’s a game without excuses, so for a footballer it’s very hard to play,” says Vertonghen. “If we play each other and I win, you’re stupid. That’s how we think, especially me and Mousa. We play online against people we don’t know. If Eric Dier beats me, he can call me stupid until I beat him. When it’s brains versus brains, there’s no saying, ‘Your bishop got lucky there’. Eric beat me the last time — he’s a bright guy — but I think overall I’m up.”

As he talks, Vertonghen is perched on a tiny plastic chair in the children’s playroom on Rainbow Ward, North Middlesex Hospital, where he has been handing out Christmas presents. He seems comfortable here, perhaps because he is surrounded by board games, one of his passions. In spite of the high stakes, they have played a surprising role in strengthening one of the Premier League’s most united squads.

“I love the environment at Spurs,” says the defender. “This group sees each other off the pitch so much. Coffees or just hanging out, because we like each other. We love playing games. I’m addicted — not video games, but board games. And we have quite a good bunch like that. Uno is for the training ground. Settlers of Catan was more when Nacer Chadli was around — that’s a demanding game.”

Liking one another might be one of the simpler secrets to Tottenham’s increasingly impressive season, which is gathering pace ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Burnley. Who needs new signings or a home stadium when you have such formidable team spirit?
Spurs have more Premier League points than ever before after 16 games, despite playing 10 away from home and the other six at Wembley, and this week’s 1-1 draw at Barcelona booked their place in the Champions League last 16. They have not even enjoyed their annual Festive burst.


“It was special,” says Vertonghen, looking back on Tuesday night in the Nou Camp. “But it’s passing the group stage, it’s not winning a trophy.” The club’s lack of silverware under Mauricio Pochettino is the only remaining caveat to the manager’s remarkable work, and a trophy has also evaded Vertonghen since he arrived from Ajax in 2013.

After a League Cup Final, consecutive FA Cup semi-final defeats and two spirited, yet unsuccessful, title challenges, the centre-back, who says he is open to extending his contract beyond 2020, is acutely aware that Spurs are in danger of being remembered as nearly-men.

“I had an opinion and he definitely had his — he’s the boss,” says Vertonghen. “It didn’t take us a very long time to get along and for me to understand what it meant to play as a centre-back in his side. It demanded a lot, especially physically and he made me understand that. He made it clear I wasn’t doing enough. He was right.”

Under Pochettino, Vertonghen has become of the one finest centre-backs in Europe and the Belgian will be as important as anyone in Spurs’ attempts to end their decade-long wait for silverware. Over the chess board, though, there are still improvements to be made.


“It’s easy to reach a certain level with chess, but it’s very hard to reach the next level,” says Vertonghen, who watched Magnus Carlsen retain his world title last month. “Eric, Mousa and I, I don’t think the three of us are at the next level. We know some opening moves. We can think one or two steps ahead. But not 27, like Carlsen.”
 
Jan Vertonghen is open to extending his Tottenham contract beyond 2020 and believes he can continue playing for another four or five years.

The 31-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and Spurs will exercise a one-year option soon. Vertonghen says he is not currently in talks over a new deal but insists he would be happy to do so.


“I’ve got a contract until 2020 — there’s an option and Tottenham will take that option,” he told Standard Sport while handing out presents to children at North Middlesex Hospital.


“So I’ve got a year and a half left and then we’ll see. The way I feel now, I’ve got at least four to five good years left in the tank.


“There are no talks [with the club], but that’s something to discuss. At the moment I feel great at Tottenham. It’s a club with unbelievable potential — not just the players but everything around it. Everyone wants to be part of it.”

The Belgium international spent nine seasons at Ajax before joining Spurs in 2013 and his mother has said he could return to the Eredivisie club before he retires.

“You never know, but I’ve got a great passion for Ajax,” he said. “I’d probably live in Amsterdam [when I retire]. I can see myself in Belgium a day or two a week with family — it’s only an hour and half drive. My missus is from there. I love the open environment, people being open-minded. I lived there for nine years, it’s a nice city. It has a good quality of life and diversity.”

Asked if he has any interest in becoming a manager when he retires, Vertonghen said: “At the moment, no. I can see how demanding it is — I see our manager. To come straight out of football, it’s good to get your head off football for a bit. That’s how I think now anyway. For the moment I just think about playing football and not about managing.

“I want to start with something, and that’s probably not going to be my coaching badges. I hope I find something demanding, something I can put my soul and passion into.”
 
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