{
  "id": 16305023,
  "title": "Roberto De Zerbi defends Tottenham medical staff amid more Spurs injury woes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/roberto-de-zerbi-defends-tottenham-medical-staff-amid-more-spurs",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-24T09:04:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/roberto-zerbi-defends-tottenham-medical-090441118.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Roberto De Zerbi has supported Tottenham Hotspur's medical staff amid an ongoing injury crisis. The team will take on rivals Chelsea on Saturday, with several key players missing or doubtful due to disrupted training. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are both in doubt following their appearances in Monday's win over Coventry, while Destiny Udogie remains out and Tosin Adarabioyo may not recover in time. Pedro Porro is available, providing a welcome boost, but Tottenham has been plagued by fitness issues this season. De Zerbi stated, \"It's football. I am convinced our medical staff this season is high level.\" He followed them and has confidence in their work. De Zerbi highlighted three players whose fitness issues are unique circumstances. Pedro Porro suffered a hamstring injury during the World Cup, which led to his absence at the start of the season and another injury after returning. Lucas Bergvall injured his knee in a tackle during a Manchester United game and continued playing, feeling pain the next day. Andy Robertson played four consecutive matches for the national team and was fatigued during the Coventry game. De Zerbi noted that Tottenham has struggled at Chelsea, with only one win in 41 matches. Despite this, De Zerbi, who won there with Brighton in 2023, remains confident in the medical staff, drawing from his own experience at Foggia.",
  "summary": "Fitness problems have been a frequent issue for Tottenham this season and during recent campaigns",
  "key_points": [
    "Roberto De Zerbi backs Tottenham's medical staff amid injury crisis",
    "Several key players like Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison doubtful for Chelsea match",
    "De Zerbi praises medical staff's high level, citing personal experience"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The manager's public backing of his medical team signals an attempt to maintain internal stability while the squad struggles to overcome a persistent cycle of player unavailability.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}