Micky van de Ven is having a great season so far for the Spurs, but after the loss against Brighton over the weekend, many Tottenham players exposed some of their biggest weaknesses.
Tottenham lose control defensively
With Spurs cruising at 2-0 going into the break at the Amex Stadium on Sunday evening, it appeared the Lilywhites were well on their way to a sixth straight win.
Goals haven’t been a problem of late for Ange Postecoglou‘s side, with Brennan Johnson and James Maddison firing them ahead. But, it was at the back where frailties crept in immediately after the restart.
Destiny Udogie was sloppy in possession and failed to make crucial clearances, Cristian Romero switched off a number of times and lost his man in the box, and Micky van de Ven, usually so reliable, looked shaky on the ball and positionally out of sorts.
Micky van de Ven lacks toughness
Van de Ven has been attracting praise from all sides this term, but the Dutchman has now had his flaws pointed out by Arsenal legend Martin Keown, who suggested the Spurs man needs to show more physicality.
He told talkSPORT: “Van de Ven is getting all this credit for being a speed merchant, flying forward, but I didn’t really see a toughness about him in that second half. Minteh, I think, went past him a few times.”
The whole backline needs to wake up
Tottenham’s defence is amazing on paper, but they all have their flaws, as do most players, to be fair.
Van de Ven is usually the most dependable of them all, and it was a real shock to see him so uncharacteristically poor against Brighton.
The Brighton attackers were turning him inside out, he was struggling to get on the right side of his men, his tackles weren’t effective, and he couldn’t even assert himself on the game when he had the ball, either. Postecoglou will be desperate to get some work in with that backline as soon as possible.