Glenn Hoddle spots van de Ven injury ‘worry’ after Tottenham win v AZ Alkmaar
Micky van de Ven was withdrawn on 60 minutes during the Tottenham win against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
The Lilywhites earned a place in the Europa League round of 16 on 13 March thanks to a 3-1 win in North London against the Dutch outfit.
A late strike from Wilson Odobert proved to be the difference in what became a nervy affair at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Despite the initial excitement of the win, that may have fallen away slightly after what Glenn Hoddle saw van de Ven do after the full-time whistle.
Hoddle spots potential van de Ven injury
The return of the Dutchman was a welcome relief for the N17 side in arguably their biggest game of the season so far.
Alongside Cristian Romero, there was a defensive solidity about Spurs which had been seriously lacking at multiple points throughout the campaign.
This was on show when the former Wolfsberg man went off on 60 minutes, in a move which appeared to be planned ahead of the game.
AZ Alkmaar were able to get hold of the game slightly at that moment which did make Ange Postecoglou’s decision to take the star defender off slightly odd.
With that being said, former Lilywhites star Hoddle may have spotted the true reason why the 23-year-old was removed from the game so early in the second half.
Speaking live on TNT Sports (13 March, 9:58pm), he said: “There was just one worry for us, van de Ven came off.
“We’ve just seen him hold his hamstring for a second so we’re just hoping it was precautionary, why he was taken off.”
Tottenham hopeful of van de Ven precaution v AZ Alkmaar
It is likely that the Dutchman was taken off to help build up his fitness after such a lengthy spell out through injury.
Other than the Bournemouth clash at the weekend, the centre-back’s last outing came against Elfsborg in January. It was December against Chelsea before that and it was Manchester City in October before that.
| Date | Fixture | Minutes played |
| 13/03/25 | AZ Alkmaar | 61′ |
| 09/03/25 | Bournemouth | 29′ |
| 30/01/25 | Elfsborg | 45′ |
| 08/12/24 | Chelsea | 79′ |
| 30/10/24 | Manchester City | 14′ |
Appearances have been few and far between this campaign so fans can’t blame Postecoglou for easing the defender back in.
With a clash against Fulham coming up on Sunday (16 March) it will be interesting to see if van de Ven can return or if he has picked up yet another injury.
If it is the latter, there has to be some serious questions asked of the fitness of the 23-year-old and the advisors on Hotspur Way who are letting him play.