The gifted Dutch midfielder, who touched down in North London carrying the weight of enormous expectation, had his season brought to a cruel and premature end during Tuesday night’s match.
Bad enough as a ruptured ACL diagnosis is on its own, a separate storm is now brewing over the manner in which the club’s medical personnel responded to the situation in the immediate moments after he went down.
Fan footage raises concerns over medical response
Footage that has since emerged from within the stands offers a deeply unsettling look at what unfolded in the wake of Simons’ injury.
In the clip, Tottenham’s medical staff appear to have underestimated the gravity of what they were dealing with. Despite the midfielder being in clear and obvious distress, personnel were observed pushing him to get to his feet and attempt to walk through the pain — only for him to crumple to the ground once more shortly afterwards.
Although a stretcher was eventually brought on to remove him from the field, many supporters have been left baffled as to why a player with a suspected severe ligament injury was asked to put any weight on it at all.
Nor is this the first time the club’s medical setup has attracted uncomfortable attention. Earlier in the season, Dejan Kulusevski was subjected to a strikingly similar pitch-side assessment after flagging serious discomfort.
The Swedish winger was instructed to run along the touchline as a means of gauging his condition, yet it later emerged that he had been carrying a substantial patella injury throughout — a failure in judgement that many feel needlessly set back his recovery.
For a club with genuine aspirations of operating among the elite, the mishandling of Simons’ injury — viewed alongside a growing catalogue of questionable calls around player welfare — has thrown the competence of Tottenham’s medical department into very serious question.
