Before Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League match against Copenhagen on Tuesday, the thing most Spurs fans were concerned about was precisely how much Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence hated head coach
Thomas Frank. Spence and Van de Ven were caught on camera seemingly brushing off Frank’s request to go applaud the supporters after a disheartening 1-0 loss at home to Chelsea on Saturday, and despite Frank minimizing the incident in the post-match press conference, nobody seemed to take him at his word.
Well, maybe they’ll take Micky at his word then? Van de Ven addressed the controversy directly after Spurs dominated Copenhagen in a 4-0 win at the same ground where they laid an egg three days earlier, and said everything’s fine, and everyone was just frustrated.
“Djed and I walked off. We were just frustrated after the game and everything got really exploded by the media. It was nothing big. Everyone thinks it was the gaffer… it was nothing to do with the gaffer.
We were just frustrated because of a bad performance — from myself, as well. We want to play well and I didn’t play well, in my opinion.“
Well he certainly played well on Tuesday night vs. Copenhagen. Micky was part of a defensive back four that allowed only 0.35 xG in a dominating 4-0 win that could’ve been even higher. In the process, Van de Ven scored one of the most fun goals you’re likely to see this year, driving in possession from his own box and dribbling past five defenders before slotting home to put Spurs up 3-0 while down to ten men. It was a remarkable goal in its own right, but was also a carbon copy of the goal Son Heung-Min scored against Burnley and that won him the Puskas Award in 2020. If there’s any justice in the world, Micky will be in contention for that award as well.
Frank, who is always quite happy to talk to the press, made a pretty eye-opening comparison after watching Micky score, and even joked a little about the “snub.”
“It seems like we had Lionel Messi turned into Micky van de Ven, roaring down from his own goal all the way to the other end and [he] scored a fantastic goal. I think he’s our top scorer in all competitions, so he can keep going. He can keep walking past me if he’s angry after a game!”
If by some chance you haven’t seen that goal, it’s in the video below. You should really watch it. And if you have, watch it again. And again.
While the level of the opposition was nowhere near that of Chelsea or any other Premier League team for that matter, it was still the most assured offensive performance for Spurs since probably the preseason match against Paris Saint-Germain. Frank got excellent performances from Brennan Johnson and Xavi Simons, the latter of whom Frank withdrew after Johnson picked up a second half red card up 2-0. Wilson Odobert looked dangerous throughout and scored to put Spurs up by two, while Randal Kolo Muani also had a hat trick of missed chances, all of which he could have converted on another day, and Richarlison put a header off the frame and missed a penalty kick.
Frank seemed pretty chuffed about it all, but said there’s more to come.
“I think it was a step forward. I liked what I saw from Brennan, it was classic Brennan, running in behind. And I really liked the assist from Xavi. Very good assist from Xavi. So happy that it was a goal from Brennan, assist from Xavi. I liked bits from Wilson [Odobert], and also of course he scored. I think Kolo looked like a handful, in many situations he could easily have scored one or two goals maybe in the end. But I think all of them have much more to come. But it was definitely a step forward.
“I think [Kolo Muani] is just taking steps in the right direction and he’s getting more and more fit. And I will still go as far as I don’t think he’s fully firing yet. But you can see he’s such a handful to play against. The goal is a ball in behind where he just can’t really control it, the defender and he’s practically on the goalkeeper. And then he shows extreme composure to just take the ball down and a nice assist for Wilson.
“And he’s through two or three times and could have scored more. So I think he was a threat. Probably also should have scored on the header.”
As good as Brennan Johnson was, his match did not end the way he wanted after he was given a VAR-assisted straight red card for a studs-up late challenge from behind on a Copenhagen player. The incident was initially given by the match official as a yellow card, but VAR summoned him to the monitor to review, and the call was, somewhat controversially, upgraded to a straight red card. The decision means that Johnson will be suspended for Spurs’ next Champions League match away at PSG, but unless the league decides to intervene and extend the suspension due to violent conduct (unlikely), he’ll be back for the home game against Slavia Prague on December 9.
Frank, however, wasn’t very impressed with VAR’s decision to upgrade the call on the field.
“I think I understand why it can be given. But I think it’s a little bit – what I’ve talked before – that still footage, studs on leg, is what the ref sees the first thing. That’s where it looks bad. There was no recklessness in this tackle from Brennan. He goes down into a sliding tackle, you can say ‘why give the opportunity?’ But when he goes down, there’s literally no leg in front of him, so when he slides, then the player steps down, and then it looks bad after that. I think it was a little bit unfortunate, and I think it was harsh.”
Spurs desperately needed that boost of confidence after the Chelsea match, and fans will be hoping that boost carries over into what is a pretty grueling stretch of upcoming matches, starting with a home match against Manchester United this coming Saturday.
