While not one Tottenham Hotspur player left the Newcastle United match with a rose in his hand, Garth Crooks singled out James Maddison and Micky van de Ven in his weekly column for the BBC this week.
At St. James’ Park on Saturday afternoon, Tottenham failed to muster much of an opposition and was soundly defeated 4-0 by Newcastle.
As a result, the Lilywhites lost ground on Aston Villa, who defeated Arsenal on Sunday, and fell down the Premier League standings, losing their place in the top four.
Maddison slated for latest display
For Spurs, Micky van de Ven has been flawless all season, but in the first half, the Dutchman gave goals to Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak by slipping twice in the space of two minutes.
However, James Maddison, the playmaker, also received some criticism from Garth Crooks during the journalist’s team of the week conversations this past weekend, in addition to the Spurs defense.
“The usually impressive Micky van de Ven looked like he was playing on skis, while James Maddison seemed to go through the entire match as if the scoreline didn’t matter,” Crooks said, complimenting Isak for his contribution to the victory and pointing fingers at the big Spurs players, oblivious of the fact that his team were fighting for a Champions League spot, and getting hammered.”
MORE SPURS STORIES
Spurs Online Views
Micky van de Ven’s performance didn’t worry me too much because those were essentially two isolated incidents that shouldn’t happen again.
However, Maddison hasn’t been playing as hard lately, and we are truly missing his magic. I’m hoping he can get back to that early-season level shortly.
To stay informed about the most recent developments regarding Tottenham, make sure to follow SpursWeb’s pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Relevant Subjects
Nicky Van De Ven, James Mackintosh
