Tottenham ace Micky van de Ven showed a lack of ‘experience’ v Brighton – Spurs Expert
Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven showed a lack of “experience” as Brighton striker Danny Welbeck got the better of him in Saturday’s clash, according to ex-Spurs scout Bryan King.
Brennan Johnson scored a 96th-minute winner as Ange Postecoglou’s side came from behind to beat the Seagulls 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 10 February.
It was three points in the end for the hosts, but it could have been a very different story after Pascal Gross opened the scoring for the visitors from the penalty spot in the 17th minute following van de Ven’s rash challenge on Welbeck.
King believes that the incident demonstrates the Dutchman still has a thing or two to learn about life in the Premier League.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, King said: “I thought Tottenham looked a bit shaky in the first half at the back, all four defenders didn’t look quite right.
“Van de Ven is usually more composed but Welbeck is very clever when he is one on one. I think he showed his experience by teasing the Spurs centre-back.
“It was the correct decision for the penalty, van de Ven should have made his tackle a bit earlier than he did but he ended up fouling Welbeck after falling for the striker’s trickery.”
Rare Tottenham mistake for van de Ven
Postecoglou won’t be too concerned by the penalty his centre-back gave away.
While it was a sloppy mistake, it was arguably one of van de Ven’s only high-profile errors since he joined the club from Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg in a £43million switch (Sky Sports News, 8 August).
That is pretty good going for a 22-year-old playing his first season in the Premier League, and if his previous performances are anything to go by, he will only learn from this error and continue to improve off the back of it.
Welbeck is a seasoned Premier League pro with far more experience than van de Ven, and he demonstrated that in this moment.
Nonetheless, in the end, it was the Dutch international who had the last laugh and he will now be keen to move on with Tottenham as the North London club look to build some momentum in the race for UEFA Champions League football.
In other Tottenham news, Martin Keown was left awestruck by a “thing of beauty” in Spurs’ win over Brighton.
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