Inside Futbol

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Tottenham Hotspur star Micky van de Ven has revealed that his former Volendam boss Wim Jonk gave him the belief and confidence to become the player he is today.

Van de Ven came through the Volendam academy before moving to German side Wolfsburg and joining Tottenham last season.

The Spurs centre-back played under Jonk during his time at Volendam and the 57-year-old tactician has joined Ronald Koeman’s coaching staff in the Dutch national team.

Van de Ven highlighted that Jonk gave him his first professional contract and revealed that the Dutch coach provided him with belief and confidence that he can become a good player.

The Tottenham star stated that during his early years at Volendam he was sloppy and was attempting dribbles a lot and revealed that Jonk gave him clever tricks to improve his game.

“He brought me to the first team at FC Volendam and gave me my first professional contract”, Van de Ven told Dutch broadcaster ESPN (via Voetbal Primeur).

“He gave me the belief and confidence that I could really go far.”

“When you come into Volendam’s first team as a young boy, you are still sloppy and wild. I wanted to dribble a lot.

“He gave me clever tricks and that worked out well in the end.”

Van de Ven is currently with the Dutch national team and is preparing for their Nations League games against Hungary and Germany.

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Former top flight striker Chris Sutton feels that Tottenham Hotspur fans cannot deny that they are being served up with entertaining football by Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian boss has come in for familiar criticism about his side being too gung-ho and unable to close games out, while he continues to stick stubbornly to his approach.

Spurs led 2-0 against Brighton on the south coast at the weekend, but ended up losing the Premier League clash 3-2 as they collapsed.

Sutton accepts there were issues in the loss to Brighton and believes there was a real lack of aggression in the Spurs side.

He feels though that Tottenham fans cannot say that Postecoglou is not serving up an entertaining style, which is what they wanted when he took charge.

“Ange Postecoglou won’t change”, Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 live’s Monday Night Club.

“Tottenham fans were saying: ‘We don’t win trophies so we want to see entertainment.’ There isn’t one fan in the world that can dispute that they are getting entertainment week in, week out now. Maybe just not always for the better.

“I have mixed feelings about the weekend. There is a complete lack of aggression in the team.

“Were the Brighton goals avoidable? Yes.”

Spurs offloaded a host of fringe players over the course of the summer transfer window as Postecoglou continued to reshape the squad.

Given the exits, there may be room on the wage bill for the Australian to make additions when the January window swings open.

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Richard Keys thinks that former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was right in his assessment that Tottenham Hotspur will not win the league title again.

At the weekend, Tottenham suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Brighton, despite leading the game 2-0 in the first-half and looking set for all three points on the south coast.

Ange Postecoglou’s side collapsed when Brighton scored and applied pressure and there has again been harsh criticism of Spurs’ mentality and the Australian’s approach.

Keys revealed that Tottenham’s first half performance made him think that Postecoglou has found the way to get them going but added that Spurs made fools of themselves with their second half performance.

The veteran presenter pointed out that ex-Manchester United boss Ferguson was right when he predicted early this year that Tottenham will never win the league again.

“What’s going on at Spurs? Not only did they make complete fools of themselves at Brighton – they did me as well”, Keys wrote on his blog.

“I really enjoyed watching them in the first 45 at the Amex and said so on beINSPORTS.

“They were good. And on the back of the win at OT I found myself thinking they might just have got it right at long last.

“But oh no. The wheels came off again second-half in a very Spursy way.

“What is it about them? No wonder big Ange couldn’t take his eyes off the floor when he spoke afterwards!

“At best – they might win another cup one day, but it looks as though Fergie was right all those years ago – they’ll never win the title again.”

Tottenham are sitting ninth in the league table with ten points from seven games and they will be determined to come back strong after the international break.

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Ex-Premier League boss Alan Pardew admits that in the summer he was not impressed with Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer business as it was not ambitious enough.

Spurs have had an up and down season so far, with familiar failings showing themselves, including an ability to not close games out and to easily concede goals.

They led 2-0 at Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday, but then conceded three times to self-destruct and head back to north London with zero points.

While Tottenham have a number of exciting youngsters coming through, questions are being asked about the depth of their squad and Pardew believes not enough was done in the summer.

The former Newcastle United boss stressed that Spurs must aim to be fighting for the title as then falling just short will put them in the Champions League.

He admits he was not taken with the business that Spurs, under Ange Postecoglou, did in the summer.

“Forget about Ange, the transfer policy in the summer did not strike me of a team that wanted to be champions”, Pardew said on talkSPORT’s The Final Word.

“If you are Spurs you have got to aim to be champions because if you aim to be champions, you might get Champions League.

“And if you just fall short of Champions League you’ll make Europa League.

“If you don’t aim there, if you aim for the Champions League or the Europa League, you are going to fall short and you [Spurs] look short.”

Tottenham led Brighton 2-0 at half time on the south coast, thanks to goals from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison.

A quickfire goal for Brighton in the second half through Yankuba Minteh rattled Spurs though and by the 66th minute they were 3-2 down, with Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck having also struck.

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Alan Pardew believes Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou must realise that his side cannot have the same carefree attitude that his Celtic outfit had.

Postecoglou was dominant in Scottish football with Celtic as his Bhoys side won plaudits for their swashbuckling style of play.

The Australian has taken the same philosophy and approach to north London, but it is yet to pay dividends and the weaknesses were on display on Sunday when Spurs threw away a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Brighton.

Tottenham have headed into the international break sitting ninth in the Premier League table with ten points and having won as many games as they have lost (three).

Postecoglou has regularly come in for criticism for his sides not being street-smart and Pardew thinks an approach similar to that at Celtic just will not do in the Premier League.

Pardew said on talkSPORT’s The Final Word: “When you’re in a dominant side like he was at Celtic, let’s be honest, in a way you can have a bit more of a carefree attitude and get results.

“You can’t do that in the Premier League.

“The top teams can’t do that.

“Man City showed that yesterday because Fulham should have turned them over.

“They were a little bit lax and Fulham definitely should have done the job on them.”

Tottenham have two London derbies in the Premier League lined up after the international break when they take on West Ham United and Crystal Palace.

They then host Aston Villa, but not before a daunting EFL Cup tie against Manchester City.

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One of Tottenham Hotspur’s out on loan stars ‘will be included’ in his country’s national team squad on Monday.

Another international break has arrived and clubs across the globe are releasing players to link up with their national teams.

Tottenham will have a host of players leaving north London and heading for international duty and even Spurs stars currently out on loan will also be going.

One Spurs star who is set to be called up is winger Bryan Gil, who is on loan at Spanish side Girona.

According to Spanish outlet SER Girona Esport, Gil ‘will be included’ in the Spain national side on Monday.

Spain are due to play Nations League games against Denmark and Serbia over the course of the international break.

Gil will see another Spurs star in the squad as Pedro Porro has been called up.

Other players on the books at Premier League sides included in the Spain squad are Aston Villa’s Pau Torres, Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Arsenal’s Mikel Merino.

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Former Premier League midfielder Craig Burley has taken aim at one of Tottenham Hotspur’s players after seeing him in action at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Following a Europa League clash in Hungary against Ferencvaros, Ange Postecoglou took his Spurs side to Brighton in the Premier League.

They started strongly on the south coast and led 2-0 by the half-time break, with goals from the in-form Brennan Johnson, along with James Maddison.

Postecoglou named Timo Werner in the Spurs starting eleven though and the German attracted criticism from ex-top flight star Burley during the course of the game.

Reflecting on what he was seeing from Werner, Burley took to X to write: “Timo Werner’s end product really is poor.”

However, while the attacker came in for criticism from Burley, his team-mate Dejan Kulusevski fared better.

Burley is a fan of Kulusevski and dubbed his runs ‘excellent’.

“Kulusevski taking up some great positions again. His runs are excellent”, he added.

During his spell at Chelsea in the Premier League, Werner struggled to make an impression and eyebrows were raised in some quarters when Postecoglou brought him back to England on loan from RB Leipzig.

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Fixture: Brighton & Hove Albion vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 16:30 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his starting line-up and substitutes to lock horns with Brighton on the south coast in a Premier League clash this afternoon.

Spurs were in Europa League action in midweek, away in Hungary against Ferencvaros, and Postecoglou will be keen to avoid a hangover.

Brighton head into the game without a win in their last two games and having lost 4-2 at Chelsea last time out.

The Seagulls have been no stranger to goals though as they have scored seven across their last three games.

Guglielmo Vicario is in goal for Tottenham today, while at the back Postecoglou picks a four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie.

In midfield, Tottenham field Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, while Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner support Dominic Solanke.

Postecoglou can look to his bench if changes are needed and his options include Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bentancur, Maddison, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Werner

Substitutes: Forster, Spence, Dragusin, Gray, Bissouma, Sarr, Bergvall, Moore, Lankshear

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Ange Postecoglou has insisted one Tottenham Hotspur star is constantly looking for more and more information to take on board as he looks to improve as a player.

The Spurs boss has a host of talented youngsters at his disposal and started Will Lankshear, Mikey Moore, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray against Ferencvaros on Thursday.

Spurs splashed big money to sign Gray and he has been deployed in a number of positions by Postecoglou, including as a full-back and centre-back.

The 59-year-old insists that he is using the youngster in positions where he needs him and that he feels will give the 18-year-old confidence in how much the manager trusts him.

He revealed that the summer arrival is ‘constantly looking for more and more information’ as he looks to develop and learn the game.

“Training, he is constantly looking for more and more information which he helps and then he just has a great temperament. He seems to take things in his stride and not let it affect him”, Postecoglou said at a press conference.

“Last night, I played him in two different positions and both are probably the least preferred for him.

“You know he has played right full-back and in centre midfield, I had him at left centre-back and left-back last night and I thought he did brilliantly again.

“I’m not going to just put him in different positions at the moment we are using him where we need him.

“I think hopefully that gives him confidence in how much I trust him.

“Eventually, we will settle him into an area but him playing at the moment, he has played the EFL Cup game away, two European games, and exposure in the Premier League already in the first ten games of his Tottenham career which I think is brilliant for us.”

Gray has been on the pitch for a total of 301 minutes for Tottenham, 180 of which have been in the Europa League.

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Ferencvaros boss Pascal Jansen feels that his team exploited Tottenham Hotspur’s weaknesses on Thursday and believes they were unlucky with the disallowed goal of Barnabas Varga.

On Thursday, Tottenham faced Hungarian side Ferencvaros in their Europa League game and came out victorious 2-1.

However, Ferencvaros forward Varga’s goal was ruled out in the 17th minute after a VAR check, which raised some eyebrows.

Jansen pointed out that they were unlucky to see Varga’s goal disallowed but believes that his players executed their game as planned against Tottenham.

He also believes that they managed to exploit Spurs’ weaknesses on Thursday and stressed that they were well competitive against Ange Postecoglou’s side.

“I knew what the boys could do and we saw tonight that we were competitive challengers to Tottenham”, Jansen was quoted as saying by Hungarian broadcaster M4.

“We were unlucky that Varga’s first goal was ruled out, then unfortunately we made some small mistakes which had big consequences, but we played a good game and things went as planned, apart from the goals scored [against us].

“We always look forward to games like this, we were well prepared and we were able to exploit Tottenham’s weaknesses, which is a great achievement from the boys, but you play well in vain if you lose at the end of the game, so we are sad about that”.

Tottenham have now secured six points from the first two games and will face AZ Alkmaar at home in their next Europa League game on 24th October.