LONDON – Tottenham coach Thomas Frank joked that Micky van de Ven could continue to pass him after the match if he followed up with a stunning goal like he did in the 4-0 win over Copenhagen on Tuesday.
Van de Ven’s wonderful individual effort, in which he dribbled from the edge of his team’s penalty area to the other area where he shot a low ball past goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski, culminated in scoring in a smooth attacking display from Tottenham.
The 24-year-old was the subject of much pre-match talk after he and team-mate Djaid Spence appeared to ignore Frank and head straight into the tunnel as the manager tried to persuade them to join him for an appreciation tour for the home fans following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in north London.
Frank revealed on Monday that the couple had since entered his office “without warning” and apologized for the situation.
Asked if he had ever seen a better goal scored by a defender, Frank said in his post-match press conference: “I definitely need to think a little bit about it, but it feels like we’ve turned Lionel Messi into Micky van de Ven running from his own goal to the other end to score a great goal.
“I think he’s our top scorer in all competitions so he can keep going. By the way, he can keep going past me if he’s angry after the game if he performs like that.”
Van de Ven described what he was thinking when he ran more than 70 yards on his way to goal.
“To be honest, I saw a little gap in front of me, so I said: ‘Okay, I’ll start dribbling now and see if they can catch up.’ “Then I saw space each time more and more, and then at some point I felt like I’m done now, I’m going to go for the goal now,” Van de Ven told TNT Sports.
A sensational attacking display meant Brennan Johnson’s second-half red card was a minor point on the night.
Johnson was shown a controversial straight red after his follow-up attempted tackle collided with Copenhagen left-back Marcos Lopez in the right calf.
“I think I understand why it was given, but I think that’s what I talked about before: that there are still shots of nails on the leg is what the referee sees as the first thing – that’s where it looks bad,” Frank said.
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“There was no recklessness in that tackle from Brennan. He goes down in the tackle, and you say: ‘Why are we giving chances?’ But when he goes down there is literally no leg in front of him. So when he goes down, that player steps down and then it looks bad afterwards.”
“So I think it was a bit unfortunate and I think it was harsh.”
Johnson’s red card led to Xavi Simons being replaced by Joao Palinha near the hour mark. Simmons, who asked for help in Johnson’s opener, was visibly frustrated with the decision.
After the apparent disdain for Van de Ven and Spence a few days ago, this was the second sign of discontent from a Spurs player in a matter of days, but Frank sought to play down the player’s reaction.
“Of course everyone wants to play, and how can you say, look at the opportunity to play a little bit more,” Frank said.
“At that point or 2-0, you never know. So I thought OK, we’re playing a little more defensively, that’s why we did it.”
Tottenham returns to the competition when it hosts Manchester United in the English Premier League on Saturday.
