Ange on Micky: “He hasn’t missed a beat”

Ange Postecoglou was full in his praise for Micky van de Ven after the defender’s wonderful finish to secure victory against Burnley at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

Micky switched from centre-back to left-back for the final half-hour and proved decisive with eight minutes remaining. James Maddison fed a pass into his run from left to centre, Dane Scarlett’s run took away defender Maxime Esteve and that allowed Micky to run around the ball onto his left foot and plant it into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

It was no less than the team deserved after a dominant display – 21 efforts at goal to Burnley’s seven – as we came from behind again to take victory. Jacob Bruun Larsen opened the scoring on the break for the visitors but Pedro Porro’s rasper levelled it up before half-time and it just felt our continued pressure would eventually tell in the second half, and it did.

Speaking on our Review Show, Ange said of Micky’s strike: “Yes, Micky’s goal was decent, both goals were very good. Micky had one year in the Bundesliga, he’s come into the Premier League and hasn’t missed a beat.

“He’s grown as a person, as a player, even with his injury problems, he’s just come back. Today, credit to him... him and Cuti in particular through this tough spell have stood up and wanted to make an impact.”

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Ange added: “There are a lot of these players - it's Micky's first year in the Premier League, Vicario's, Destiny's (as well). Pape's first full season. There's so much growth in us and what we've been through this year both good and bad is great for us. Micky's been through a lot with injury, and even then he's bounced back so well from that to maintain an elite level of performance so I couldn't be happier for him.”