Micky van de Ven had a disaster for Tottenham today as Newcastle United hammered Ange Postecoglou’s side.
The Dutch defender has been one of the stars of the season so far for Tottenham.
Since signing in the summer, Van de Ven has developed a fine partnership with Cristian Romero and been a key player in Spurs’ success.
However, today was simply not his day.
First, Van de Ven was turned inside out by Alexander Isak for the opening goal before Anthony Gordon then did similar a minute later to make it 2-0.
Van de Ven was then at fault for the third goal, as he allowed Isak to run from inside his own half to slot past Vicario in the Spurs goal and compound a miserable day overall for the defender.
Of course, Van de Ven will need to bounce back quickly.
And speaking about his defender after the game, Ange Postecoglou was in no mood to throw his player under the bus.
Ange Postecoglou speaks on Micky van de Ven after Tottenham v Newcastle
The Tottenham boss was speaking to TNT Sports after the game and cut a dejected figure overall.
But when pressed on the mistakes from Van de Ven, Postecoglou simply insisted it’s part of being a professional footballer and more mistakes will come along in his career.
“I think for all of them that’s the life of an elite footballer, you’re going to make mistakes. I’m sure he’s going to make many more of them in his career. It’s about how you react to those mistakes. I think all of us as a group have a fair bit to learn from today,” Postecoglou said.
Van de Ven has to recover quickly
It was just one of those days in the end for Micky van de Ven.
Right now, he’ll feel like he wants the world to swallow him up. He was so far off the levels he has shown this season so far that it was almost like watching a different player.
Sadly for Van de Ven, he’s now got to wait a few weeks before being able to get back in action.
The next Tottenham game sees them take on Arsenal and if he produces a similar performance to that he did today, then it’s curtains for Spurs really.
Van de Ven, then, will be keen to get back to his best quickly and put this one firmly behind him.