Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou makes Micky van de Ven fitness admission

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Evening Standard

·7 de febrero de 2025

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou makes Micky van de Ven fitness admission

Dutchman will not be rushed back into action despite brief return

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Ange Postecoglou has admitted Micky van de Ven’s injury recovery is going to be a “slow burner”.

It is the latest blow in Tottenham’s injury ravaged season.

Centre-back Van de Ven made his first appearance since early December when he played in last week’s 3-0 home win against Elfsborg in the Europa League. He was then left out of last weekend’s win at Brentford as a “precautionary measure” and was not in the squad for Thursday’s 4-0 battering at Anfield against Liverpool, which saw Tottenham knocked out of the Carabao Cup.

On Friday, Postecoglou revealed none of his 11 first-team players currently out injured would recover in time for Sunday’s FA Cup fourth round trip to Aston Villa.

“No, Micky probably is going to be a bit of a slow burner,” he said.

“The ones who are definitely close are guys like [Guglielmo] Vicario, Destiny [Udogie], Wilson [Odobert], Madders [James Maddison], Brennan [Johnson] at a stretch.

“They should all be back by midweek next week in terms of training, or the week after. Over the next two weeks, they should all be available.”

Spurs are languishing in 14th place in the Premier League, so hopes of silverware rest with the Europa League or FA Cup following the 4-1 aggregate defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Postecoglou was asked whether his team’s season hinges on the result at Villa Park on Sunday.

“No, because we’ve got other games afterwards,” he said. “Once again, I don’t think about what I do in those senses. People will always try to create a scenario where there is some sort of dramatic event.

“The reality of it is, say we win Sunday, what does that mean? That we can go in against Manchester United the following week and say well we just won the biggest game of the year, so that’s OK?

“I don’t believe that. But I get why people talk in that manner because it means if we’re not successful, ‘OK, well what does that mean for the manager, for the team, for our season?’ I get that people want the drama around it.”

He continued: “The reality of it is that we have an important game on Sunday that we want to win to stay in the competition. Then we have an important game the following Sunday [against Manchester United in the Premier League]. So nothing is season-defining until you get to the end.”