He feels incident with manager blown out of proportion
Defender told himself he had to score after storming run
Micky van de Ven has downplayed the furore over his standoff with Thomas Frank after Tottenham’s Premier League defeat by Chelsea on Saturday, insisting it was misinterpreted and blown out of proportion. The centre-half preferred to focus on how the team had bounced back to thrash Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday – a tie in which he scored a thrilling individual goal.
Van de Ven was all smiles after Copenhagen, his surge and finish from one box to the other drawing comparisons to Son Heung-min’s Puskas Award-winning effort for Spurs against Burnley in 2019. It was a vivid contrast to the post-Chelsea scenes when Spurs were booed off by their home crowd, having also been jeered by them during the game.
Van de Ven walked off the field with his teammate Djed Spence and they were so frustrated that they blanked Frank as the manager attempted to get them to acknowledge the supporters; they made straight for the dressing room instead. The episode was filmed and shared by a fan – and it coloured the buildup to the Copenhagen tie, which was also at home. Frank revealed that Van de Ven and Spence had each been into his office on Sunday to say sorry to him.
