Micky van de Ven took ‘massive risk’ vs Man United as ex-ref speaks out on Tottenham controversy
Micky van de Ven got away with one for Tottenham against Man United.
Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat against Man United piled even more pressure on Thomas Frank, who is now seven games without a win as Spurs manager, and quite honestly, looking down the table as opposed to up at it.
With 13 games still to be played between now and the end of the season, Tottenham are just six points above the bottom three, which is an all-too-familiar feeling, as it was under Ange Postecoglou last season.
However, things could have been even worse for Spurs at Old Trafford after an incident that went unpunished in their latest defeat.
Man United should have had a penalty vs Spurs
Cristian Romero’s brainless red card against Man United left Spurs fighting an uphill battle at Old Trafford, and the performance of several of his teammates also didn’t help.
Van de Ven has been one of Tottenham’s best players this season, if not the best, but even he was slightly off the pace against the Red Devils, and that was summed up by an incident in his own penalty box.
In the 60th minute, when Spurs were a goal down and a man down, a ball was sent into the box towards Harry Maguire, who went down under a challenge from Van de Ven.
The Dutchman was looking to play the man only and wrapped his arm around the England international, but no foul was given.
And that was to the surprise of Dermot Gallagher, who believes it should have been a penalty.
Via Ref Watch, he said: “I’ve said all season – any player not facing the ball runs a massive risk.
“Van de Ven’s sole intention is to get hold of Maguire. While it’s not the most forceful of pulls, it does stop him from tacking the ball.
“If you do that and a penalty is given against you, you can have no arguments whatsoever.”
Thomas Frank set to have his resolve tested at Tottenham
Frank doesn’t deserve another minute as Tottenham boss, but it has become quite evident that he is going to have many more of them.
But if so, he needs to make the big decisions to show that he has the backbone to change their fortunes.
And the first one simply has to be to ensure that Romero has to fight for his place in the starting 11 when he returns from suspension.
The Argentine is a pure liability, and he simply isn’t the character you want, nor need, in the team when facing the situation that Tottenham currently are.