Micky van de Ven has played down the controversy surrounding his refusal to acknowledge manager Thomas Frank after Tottenham’s defeat to Chelsea, insisting the incident was blown out of proportion. The centre-half, who later apologised, says frustration at a poor performance was misinterpreted as a snub towards Frank.
Van de Ven preferred to focus on Tuesday’s emphatic Champions League win over FC Copenhagen, in which he scored a stunning individual goal. His surging run from his own box to the other end drew comparisons to Son Heung-min’s Puskas Award-winning strike for Spurs against Burnley in 2019.
“I got the ball on the edge of my own box and saw the gap opening,” Van de Ven explained. “When I came through, the way was open to goal. I thought, ‘OK, I keep going now, I need to finish this.’ Luckily it happened.” The goal made him Tottenham’s top scorer this season with six, two more than any teammate.
The Dutchman admitted the team needed a positive response after the Chelsea defeat, in which home fans booed them. “We were frustrated because of a bad performance – from myself as well,” he said. “But the win against Copenhagen was important. Now we focus on Manchester United on Saturday.”
Van de Ven, the fastest player in Premier League history, is known for his storming runs but said he is not targeting a specific goal tally. “Six is a lot already. I don’t know where it will end, but hopefully I can score more.”
