Football London

Ledley King believes that Micky van de Ven has grown into the role of Tottenham captain and was the right choice for the job.

The Dutchman suffered a hand injury in the final stages of the Netherlands' 2-1 win against Serbia on Sunday and was feeling dizzy with the pain, which meant he could not continue, but the issue was described as "not serious" by his international boss Xavi. Van de Ven will now return to Spurs ahead of the Premier League's return and a trip to Manchester United on Saturday.

The 25-year-old centre-back was named Tottenham captain this summer after signing a bumper new deal with the club and he wore the armband through large parts of last season with Cristian Romero out injured or suspended. Van de Ven played his part in keeping Spurs in the Premier League and was handed the full-time captaincy when the Argentine left for Atletico Madrid.

The north London club now find themselves bottom of the table under Roberto De Zerbi after failing to record a win in their opening five matches of the Premier League campaign but Tottenham legend King believes it's all part of the education for the Dutchman.

"I think he's a fantastic player. His new role now is to make the players around him better. I think Micky takes care of himself. His ability to recover and put fires out is something we've seen over the last few years. That's an important element for the team," said the 45-year-old at Spurs' recent Hall of Fame event.

"So, I think the next role is to manage the group and get the best out of the group as a team. He's grown into the role. Having seen Micky on the pitch, he leads by example, for sure. I think he was the right choice to be captain."

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King was a young captain himself for the Lilywhites even though for the England international it was about his connection to the club from his youth.

"I had been at the club a long time. I think I was probably the longest-serving player, even though I was still pretty young. Of course, when you come through the academy as a local boy, I know what it's about. I've got many friends that are Tottenham fans," he explained.

"I know what it means to represent this football club. So, there were certain elements that were instilled in me from being a young kid here. There were certain things that you had to learn along the way. You tried to take things from the best captains that you'd been under. You left some things behind from certain captains as well. For me, the most important thing was to be yourself.

"You think the players see through it. Just because you've got the armband on, you can't change as an individual. It was important for me to be myself. But be a little bit more authoritative in doing that."

Van de Ven has a new defensive partner this season in Jan Paul van Hecke, although the duo know each other well from senior international duty as well as playing together as centre-backs for the Netherlands' under-21s. Van Hecke also suffered an injury during this break with the Dutch with a toe problem that prevented him from training.

King has been impressed with what he has seen so far from the former Brighton man, who scored his first goal for the club late on in the defeat to Aston Villa last month.

"I think he's a tremendous footballer. His passing range is excellent. Of course, he'll know Micky well. I think they're building up a good relationship there. I've been impressed by him," he said. "It's not easy when you're not winning games. We've kept a couple of clean sheets so far. There's plenty to build on, but it's been good."

So how do Spurs bounce back mentally after such a disappointing start to the season with their place at the foot of the table?

"No choice. You have to find a way," said King. "Most of the group have gone through difficult periods, and they managed to find a way out last season. They'll have to draw on that to a certain degree, but there is no easy way. You keep working on the training pitch, keep putting the work in. It's just a confidence thing.

"These are top players. I'm sure once the first positive result goes for the team, things can turn around very quickly. Just keep working hard, keep believing in yourself. That's the only way to do it."

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The Tottenham Hotspur winger has become a target for criticism this season but has shone on international duty away from the club

Mathys Tel has been on the receiving end of criticism from his Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi and the club's supporters but has put that behind him while on international duty.

The Frenchman, who turned 21 this year, arrived from Bayern Munich as a star of the future with the German giants having paid Rennes £26million for him as a 17-year-old. Arriving in N17 first on loan, Tel was thrown into Premier League life at a time when Spurs were struggling both with injuries and their form, and he had to adapt to the fast and physical league as a target man with others out.

The youngster managed five goal involvements in his first 14 Premier League and FA Cup games and played his part in Spurs' run to winning the Europa League.

After signing permanently for £29.8million, Tel found starts hard to come by under Thomas Frank and was left out of the Dane's Champions League squad. The usual Tottenham injury crisis arrived though midway through the season and the young Frenchman ended up playing his part with six goal involvements, including an important assist in the win at Aston Villa and then a terrific goal against Leeds before giving away a penalty at the other end.

A post-season chat with De Zerbi convinced Tel that the Italian was going to help develop him and give him minutes and there was no need for a summer departure. The attacker featured heavily in pre-season and was one of the better players on the tour to New Zealand and Australia, scoring a superb free-kick against Chelsea in Sydney.

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However, along with his team-mates, Tel has found the start of the season difficult with De Zerbi's attacking options failing to click yet.

The fans have singled him out for criticism and De Zerbi has also called for more from the young forward. The head coach could be seen airing his frustrations at Tel on the pitch after the goalless draw against Everton.

"Yes, I coached him on the pitch," De Zerbi said. "The body shape of a striker. The striker can play with the shoulder on the goal. If we are playing with [James] Maddison, [Mohammed] Kudus and Savio, he has to play as a striker, and the striker has to look at the goal, no?

"Or on the cross of Robertson. He has to stay inside because he started [his career] as a striker. Now he's playing as a winger, but he started in his career as a striker."

He added: "But I love Mathys as a player, as a guy. There is not a problem."

Tel was left out of the squad to face Aston Villa and could have spent the international break wallowing but instead he has been one of Tottenham's top performers of those away with their countries.

He captained France and scored their only goal in the 1-1 draw away against Iceland in the European under-21 Championship qualifiers. Tel was the skipper again days later as they won 2-0 in Estonia and then netted the winner at home against Luxembourg to book his country's place at the Euros.

Tel has now netted 14 goals in 23 matches for France's under-21s and rounds off his international break with Tuesday night's home qualifier against Switzerland.

The young attacker will be hoping to bring his international goalscoring form back to Spurs if he can get past the abundance of options De Zerbi now has on the left with the likes of newcomers Omar Marmoush, Savio and Mykhailo Mudryk, when the Ukrainian returns from an ankle injury.

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Tottenham Hotspur officials will be closely monitoring the progress of Souza, who's currently on loan at Porto.

Souza made an excellent impression on his debut for Porto. The Tottenham Hotspur loanee inspired the Portuguese giants to a 3-1 win over Deportivo La Coruña at the Riazor Stadium on Friday night, providing the all-important assist which put Francesco Farioli's side into the lead.

Jonathan Asp Jensen broke the deadlock in Galicia, Spain, putting the hosts in front. Shortly after the break, Chris Smalling, who Porto only recently signed as a free agent, struck the post, before Borja Sainz levelled proceedings on the hour mark.

A few moments later, Francesco Farioli's side took the lead when Souza teed up André Silva with a lovely cross into the heart of the penalty area. The Porto striker doubled his tally in the dying embers of stoppage time, pouncing on a stray clearance and smashing the ball into the top corner from range on the half-volley.

In an interview with Porto Canal after the friendly, the Lilywhites wonderkid reflected on his dream start to life in Portugal. As quoted by Portuguese outlet A Bola, Souza, who Spurs signed from Santos for £13m in January 2026 and sent out on loan in the summer, said: "I felt great.

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"Very happy to debut in this beautiful, wonderful jersey, which I've always dreamed of playing in. I also want to congratulate the group who put in the effort in this friendly match to prepare for the upcoming games."

When quizzed on how he's settled at Porto, the Brazilian said: "It's been wonderful, better than I expected. Everyone welcomed me very well, the coaching staff welcomed me very well, and they are helping me in this adaptation process. I'm trying to adapt as quickly as possible to help them too."

Souza added: "We've been preparing very well. Throughout this week, we've trained very hard, with very intense training sessions. This friendly match serves precisely that purpose: to continue at the pace we're in and further increase our winning streak and the good games we've been playing."

Meanwhile, speaking to SportTV, also quoted by Portuguese outlet A Bola, Farioli said: "It was certainly a good test for us. Let's say there were many changes, with some players playing in different positions: Pepê in the centre and Francisco Moura at centre back."

The Porto boss added: "In fact, both played a very good game. We took the opportunity to try something new because we were very limited in several positions.

"Therefore, it was undoubtedly a positive test, without injuries and with a result that always helps, because winning helps to win. We are satisfied to have turned the result around, and we move on. Now, we just have to wait for the internationals to return."

Souza will hope to appear again when Porto return to action in Liga Portugal and face Marítimo on Saturday, October 10. The left-back has already caught the eye of Roberto Carlos, having helped Neymar keep Santos in the Brazilian top flight before joining Spurs.

Speaking at the Portugal Football Summit earlier this week, the Real Madrid legend told O Jogo: "I don't like to make comparisons. He came to Porto because he has quality.

"He's a player who played extremely well at Santos. It was a great signing. I'm absolutely certain that he will deliver what is expected of him on the field; he's a top-level player..."