Tottenham Hotspur suffered their 18th Premier League loss of the season, as Nottingham Forest edged past Spurs in North London to move up to third place on the league table.
Meanwhile, Tottenham sit in 16th place after atrocious performances from back to front. Many players were guilty of not bringing their A-game to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs gaffer Ange Postecoglou took no prisoners as he made half-time substitutions, signalling to the team that he wanted more. Tottenham scored in the second half but could not find the equaliser as Forest ran out 2-1 victors.
Postecoglou removed central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in a bold move. The former was already on a yellow card and in danger of a red. He was rightly hooked.
Van de Ven had a Monday night to forget and came off on 45. He was all over the place and lacked composure, especially on set-pieces, which led to Forest’s goals.
The media blasted Micky van de Ven for his poor showing. Football London gave him a 5/10 rating and said, “Grappled with Wood before losing him for his first-half header and never really looked on his game either. The Dutchman also came off at the break.”
To The Lane and Back said he was rusty and reactive, while London World claimed he looked stuck in mud for the Wood goal.
The stats don’t do him any favours. He lost possession four times, won only one of three aerial duels, and completed none of his two attempted long balls.
Postecoglou needs to trust in Kevin Danso – View
With Romero and Van de Ven off-form and causing transfer distractions, it might be time for Postecoglou to stick with Kevin Danso in central defence.
The Austrian has shortcomings, but he looks better than the first-choice pairing when he starts. Danso deserves a run in the team. It is up to Postecoglou to decide who he must drop between Romero and Van de Ven.
(Stats from Sofascore)