Wayne Rooney has branded Tottenham Hotspur‘s players a “disgrace” amid their poor form – and sought-after centre-back Micky van de Ven hasn’t covered himself in glory either.
The Netherlands international is known for his eye-catching attacking runs, his top-end speed, and raw athleticism. But the centre-back has been found wanting in 2026, especially.
Both he and centre-back partner Cristian Romero were key to Tottenham’s Europa League trophy win last season but they are, arguably, equally culpable for their current malaise.
Romero has just served a four-match ban for his second red card of the season – hardly a captain leading by example.
And Van de Ven, who has been linked with Real Madrid and Liverpool, received a petulant red card in the 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace and was at fault for one of the goals in Tottenham’s 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid.
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The 24-year-old admitted after Tottenham’s Champions League loss to Atletico on Tuesday that they are going through a “horrific” moment. Well, now is the time to stand up and be counted again.
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Wayne Rooney calls out Tottenham’s lack of desire
Following their Atletico setback, Tottenham have now lost six consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time in the north London team’s 144-year history.
And off the back of the 3-1 loss to Palace, Tottenham’s winless run stretched to 11 Premier League matches – a first for them in the competition’s history.
Overall this season, Van de Ven has won 55 per cent of his aerial duels and 57 per cent of his ground duels – bread and butter for any centre-back.
Against Atletico, Van de Ven got a Sofascore rating of 5.6 as he made one error that led to a goal, his long ball accuracy was down at 33 per cent, and he was lucky to escape a red card for a foul on David Hancko.
In the loss to Palace, where he was sent off for a last-man foul on Ismaila Sarr, his rating was a little higher at 5.4.
In addition to committing two fouls, he did win his one aerial duel and three out of five ground duels, as this Sofascore graphic partly shows below.
But the fact that his attitude has come into question, amid transfer interest away from Tottenham, and he has made some costly errors of late, Rooney’s ire could have easily been directed at Van de Ven.
When Gary Neville said this is getting “impossible to watch” at Tottenham, Rooney interjected on the Stick to Football podcast: “Yeah, but [the Tottenham] players need to look at themselves because I think they’ve been an absolute disgrace.
“The performances, the attitude, the lack of desire and fight, lack of anything in them…I was watching the Palace game, and I really felt sorry for Tottenham fans. They’re sat there…they’re not even angry anymore. Just disappointed.”
Van de Ven said he is not touching his phone anymore, other than to see his family. But if Tottenham go down, he and many of his Spurs teammates, will be on their phones quickly to seek a way out of the north London team.
How much is Igor Tudor to blame for Tottenham’s troubles?
Igor Tudor replaced Thomas Frank at Tottenham until the end of the season last month but so far he has lost all four of his games in charge.
They include Tottenham’s demoralising defeats to Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Fulham and Palace, and now they are just one point above the relegation zone with nine games to go.
The last time they won in the Premier League was way back on 28 December in a 1-0 win at Palace. Right now, Tottenham don’t look like getting a point, let alone a win.
So many mistakes have been made before Tudor walked in the building. From Spurs’ January recruitment, to the owners’ running of the club, to the attitude of their players.
This was a very difficult job but so far, Tudor hasn’t looked up to the task. He doesn’t appear to have the players’ respect, many fans want him out already, and the performances have been dire.
But the players need to take some responsibility as well. They finished 17th in the table last season and although they won the Europa League, they have to do more in the final stretch of the season. If not, relegation beckons.