What Tottenham Hotspur produced in front of their home fans on Saturday night against local rivals Fulham was, once again, simply inexcusable. And with inexucsable loss after inexcusable loss stacking up in the very early reign of manager Thomas Frank, Spurs supporters are left with a very unsettling feeling that, at no point thus far after the first few purple patch games, has Frank given them a tangible sense that he is the guy to lead this franchise to its next chapter.
Tottenham have been laughable in several important Premier League fixtures this season, including this one. They surrendered two rapid fire goals in the first 10 minutes and, at no point looked like they were going to come back in it. The fact that the scoreline was just 2-1 was down to luck more than anything, and the individual brilliance of Lucas Bergvall and Mohammed Kudus to produce something of quality out of sheer nothingness.
In truth, there was only one player who looked like a true star for Tottenham in this defeat, and center back Micky van de Ven surely has to be wondering somewhere in the back of his mind just what on earth he is doing out there.
Micky van de Ven is ready for the elite
As the world's best young center backs get eyed up by the elite clubs in Europe, the 24 year old Van de Ven may soon be growing weary of being the man amongst boys and a leader of players who should be more his senior. But when you have Pedro Porro, Guglielmo Vicario, and Djed Spence acting like petulant children and playing like rubbish in games of importance, cleaning up their messes can become grating.
While Tottenham eye up a fat new contract to keep the former Wolfsburg man appeased at the wreckage that is the current N17 under Frank's management, they have to be honest with themselves and worry that, somewhere underneath the surface, they are driving Van de Ven away by their sheer incompetence.
There is no club on this planet that would not accept Van de Ven as a transfer. Even the mighty Real Madrid would pray for a center back as technical, fast, athletic, strong, and personable as Van de Ven. He is a truly special player whom Spurs cannot for a second take for granted, and as Spurs failed Harry Kane and Son Heung-min for years in their primes, they must push for better as a club for playres like Van de Ven who are their true future.