Press release a footage clearly showing Tottenham players performance on international duty and ONE particular player needs to be questioned.
The less said about Tottenham’s horrific 3-2 defeat to Brighton the better, right? Quite. Either way, Spurs did enter this international break off the back of a mini-revival.
Prior to that meeting on the South Coast, Ange Postecoglou’s men had won five games on the spin after being defeated by rivals Arsenal.
Brennan Johnson has been a sizeable part of that, and in a good way too, with the former Nottingham Forest man scoring six games in a row for the Lilywhites.
It marks quite the turnaround for the Welshman who was forced to deactivate his social media accounts after receiving vile abuse for his poor display in the north London derby.
Did his fortunes continue for Wales over the break? You bet it did.
Brennan Johnson’s performances for Wales
The fear when a player heads off on international duty for their country is colossal. They will either get injured or it’ll mark the end of an impressive run of form.
Well, although Johnson was injured during Wales’ 2-2 draw with Iceland last Friday night, the Spurs winger did get on the scoresheet again to make it seven goals in seven matches.
It’s safe to say he is rampant right now, although he won’t score many easier goals than the one against the Icelandic national side last week.
Harry Wilson fired an effort towards goal that was saved and then clawed off the line by the goalkeeper. Who was waiting? Johnson, of course, who tapped the ball home from a matter of yards out.
Sadly, the bad news was that he only played 45 minutes in the match and was withdrawn as a ‘precaution’ due to injury.
It’s unknown whether he’ll be fit to face West Ham at the weekend but Postecoglou will be keeping all his fingers and toes crossed that the winger is fit and firing. He has been vital this term.
Despite Johnson’s goal, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Spurs players over the break, something Micky van de Ven will testify to.
Micky van de Ven’s performances for Netherlands
The Dutchman started the Netherlands’ 1-1 draw with Hungary last week at left-back where defensively he put in a strong performance, winning four duels, completing 97% of his passes and amassing 112 touches.
That said, unlike that infamous assist against Manchester United a few weeks ago, he did not offer much going forward having failed to register a single attempted cross or key pass.
Matters can’t have been helped by Virgil van Dijk’s red card in the clash but that moment did present the defender with a massive opportunity against Germany on Monday night.
Due to the Liverpool star’s suspension, it meant that Van de Ven started at centre-back but it’s safe to say he didn’t leave too many impressed.
The stats actually suggest that the Tottenham ace had an impressive night, completing 91% of his passes and winning three of his four duels, but he was slightly at fault for the goal. He failed to clear a corner, merely handing the ball straight to Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling who lashed home a thunderous strike.
Van de Ven was subsequently handed a 4.5/10 match rating by Dutch publication Football Oranje, who wrote: ‘Where was the strong, confident Van de Ven that we see at Tottenham? He froze in the centre and was guilty of constant ball loss’.
Former Tottenham star Rafael van de Vaart wasn’t too complimentary either, stating on punditry after the game: “Micky van de Ven.. it’s all well and good but he ain’t no Virgil van Dijk, of course we miss him.”
So, perhaps he’s actually better at left-back? Time will tell, of course, but he’s certainly been an excellent asset for Spurs in the centre of defence.
