Micky Van de Ven has been one of Tottenham's best and most consistent defenders this season. But when he visited Newcastle last weekend, he had his worst game of the season. The iconic image appeared twice in the space of 90 seconds: Van de Ven fell flat on his face, eyes wide open in despair as his opponent - first Alexander Isak, then Anthony Gordon - scored against his team. Van de Ven, like the rest of Tottenham's defenders, could not cope with the speed of Newcastle's attackers. The result: Newcastle won 4-0.
Defender Micky van de Ven looks distraught after Tottenham's heavy defeat to Newcastle
By the cold standards of statistics, Van de Ven made no individual mistakes. But the image of the Dutchman falling over with ease shows that attacking directly into the heart of Tottenham's defense is an easy task for high-class attackers (remember: last weekend's opponents were only Newcastle's Isak and Gordon). On the other hand, both Tottenham full-backs made individual mistakes that directly led to the goal. More worrying for Tottenham: that is actually a weakness throughout the "Angeball" style of play that many have flamboyantly elevated to a philosophy. No matter how well and beautifully Tottenham attack against weaker opponents, they defend just as loosely against stronger opponents. When both sides are on par (let alone when the opponent is better), both on the field with the goal of taking all 3 points, Tottenham's defense will find it difficult to stand firm.
In the remaining 6 rounds, Tottenham still have to face Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man.City... All 3 championship candidates are on the list! Man.City coach Pep Guardiola just said not long ago: Tottenham will most likely be the team that decides the Premier League championship this season. Now we must say the opposite: the 3 championship candidates will decide whether Tottenham has a ticket to the Champions League or not! In the immediate future, there is a high risk that "St. Totteringham Day" will come soon. That is the "holy day" that Arsenal fans set up to mock their arch-rivals in the North London derby: that is the day when Arsenal is sure to be above Tottenham in the final rankings regardless of the results of all the remaining matches.
Less than a week ago, it seemed that Tottenham had secured a place in the Champions League next season. Not only did they have a big advantage over Aston Villa in the race for the top 4, Tottenham were also assured that there was a 90% chance that the Premier League's No. 5 team would also qualify for the Champions League. Now things are different: Liverpool collapsed (losing 0-3 to Atalanta) while West Ham lost 0-2 to Leverkusen in the Europa League. It is still unclear whether the extra Champions League spot granted by UEFA will go to England or Germany. Assuming England still only has 4 spots, it is clear that the race for the No. 4 spot between Tottenham and Aston Villa is as intense and fierce as the race for the championship. And Tottenham fans are about to "sit on fire" when this team continuously meets very strong opponents in the remaining 6 rounds.
Also on Saturday night (April 13), MU continued to be lackluster, unable to prove that they were better than the average opponents in the Premier League. The result this time was 2-2 against Bournemouth. Coach Erik ten Hag's team only drew or lost in the last 4 rounds. The hope of participating in the Champions League next season is considered to be gone. Man.City crushed Luton Town 5-1 to temporarily take the top spot, while Liverpool and Arsenal have not played. The goals of Josko Gvardiol or Mateo Kovacic showed that Man.City is still better than other strong teams in terms of squad depth. Rodri, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish were all rested in this match, but Man.City's "treble double" goal is still intact.
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