Tottenham Hotspur’s two new signings have both trained with the club and are available for selection in Thursday’s League Cup semifinal second leg against Liverpool! Hooray! The same, however, can’t be said for Micky van de Ven.
There were ridiculous and completely unsourced online rumors floating around yesterday that Van de Ven’s absence from this past weekend’s win over Brentford were due to another significant injury setback that could potentially rule him out for the rest of the season. Ange Postecoglou, speaking in his pre-match press conference, wasn’t asked about those rumors, but did confirm that Van de Ven is being brought in very slowly, and that he didn’t feel comfortable enough to play this Thursday.
“For availability from last week, everyone fine. Kevin and Mathys are both available and have trained. The rest of [the injured players], no one available for tomorrow. With Micky and Romero to a certain extent, it’s about being conservative with them. Micky got through the 45 minutes but he feels he’s not ready yet for the step up to the Premier League yet. Obviously a big shame to lose Radu.
“[With Micky] It’s a bit of everything. He got through the game no problem but had a look at stats, Premier League is a whole different beast and after losing Radu, I thought what we had ahead of us. Don’t get me wrong we have some big games ahead but also afforded ourselves a couple of clear weeks. Hopefully we’re in final of Carabao Cup, hopefully we’re still in FA Cup and I don’t see sense of us risking us. Having Kevin in is a massive bonus and [Micky] hasn’t [been] re-injured but he feels he needs to get more into him. Same with [Cuti] Romero.”
That’s a bit of a bummer. I think, based on the very limited time we saw Micky play on his return, that I’d feel a lot more comfortable against Liverpool with Van de Ven in the lineup than without him. But, you can absolutely understand Ange’s reluctance to play him, especially if Micky himself is saying he’s not quite ready for that level of match.
So fair play. That likely means lining up with Archie Gray and Ben Davies at Anfield, which is a bit gulp but also both of them have been surprisingly solid when called upon. What about Kevin Danso? Ange says he’s a possibility, but maybe not from kickoff.
“We’ll see. There is another big game three days later. Whether [Danso] starts or comes on, we’ll see.”
The big Tottenham story of the transfer deadline day on Monday was Tottenham turning around what was once a failed bid for Bayern Munich attacker Mathys Tel. The deal appeared dead after Tel rejected a Spurs loan with a purchase option, but Tel changed his mind after having a phone conversation with Postecoglou where he detailed his tactical plans and how he thought Tel could fit into Spurs’ team this spring. Ange was asked about that conversation and how he managed to change Mathys’ mind.
“People need to understand we’re talking about a 19-year-old player with a major decision, it’s not so much about rejecting us or anyone. He wanted to be comfortable with the decision. He didn’t want to be pushed in a certain direction, credit to him.
“I had a conversation with him and purely around the football and that I think he’ll find a great place here in terms of where is in his career. We’ve shown irrespective of age, he’ll get an opportunity and the way we play will suit him and what we have in the next few months and beyond it’s a perfect fit.
“It’s right that it took as long as it did so he’s comfortable with it. That he took so much time and was diligent, and made the decision when he had options, it meant the right mentality, right player, he’s ambitious, with self belief and self confidence and feels he can reach the very top.”