Tottenham’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday was overshadowed by a clear tactical rift between manager Igor Tudor and star defender Micky van de Ven.
Van de Ven was the captain in the absence of Cristian Romero, who is still serving a suspension for his latest red card, and he’s very much considered a big influence in the dressing room.
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The 4-1 thrashing handed to Tottenham by Arsenal has done little to enhance the concept of Tudor being the right man to guide Spurs to safety this season.
With Thomas Frank, Spurs knew what they were getting to a certain degree, but with Tudor fresh into the Premier League, it already feels like a mighty risk.
A video spotted from the stands yesterday indicates just how much of a risk this decision might have been from the club, with Tudor just one game into his tenure.
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What Micky van de Ven did after Igor Tudor instructions
Tudor didn’t change too much for the visit of Arsenal, and that isn’t surprising given that the Gunners are annoyingly formidable at the moment.
At one point during the game, Tudor was spotted giving clear instructions to Van de Ven to push higher up the pitch, and the response was pretty damning.
The Dutch defender chose to ignore his new head coach and opt to stay put, dropping deeper to try and thwart any threat that Arsenal possessed.
Tudor looked thoroughly disgruntled with his captain, who ignored the instructions, and it would appear that some of the players don’t appear to be having the Croatian.
Tottenham in serious trouble
Clearly, Tottenham sit in a better position than West Ham and Forest right now, but there is serious work to do if the threat of relegation doesn’t become a reality.
Tudor desperately needs to get a win or two to ease the relegation fears in North London, and going down really doesn’t bear thinking about.
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The fact that Van de Ven completely ignored his manager’s instructions isn’t a good look at all and might suggest that some of the players aren’t up for the fight.
Right now, the whole football club looks to be in total disarray and with Fulham to play next weekend, the situation can’t be allowed to become any more perilous.
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