Van de Ven raging at ‘unacceptable’ Tottenham relegation struggle as he names five players who must step up | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has launched a furious tirade into the relegation battle the club find themselves embroiled in, challenging five players who can help save the club from demotion to the Championship, while new manager Igor Tudor has stunningly admitted the team is “full of problems”.

Spurs were beaten again on Sunday as they slipped to a 4-1 home defeat to title-chasing Arsenal in the 199th north London derby, to slip to their eighth home loss of the campaign. With just two wins from 14 home games, only Burnley and Wolves have endured worse campaigns on home soil in the Premier League than Tottenham Hotspur this season.

With West Ham gaining a point from a home clash with Bournemouth, the gap between Spurs and the bottom three is now just four points – leaving the club in real danger of suffering a first relegation of the Premier League era and a first in 49 years, with their last demotion coming in 1977.

In light of that situation, one of the team’s leaders, Van de Ven – one of 15 players certain to leave if relegation does arrive – has branded the situation “unacceptable” and has called on his teammates to dig deep and show their mettle.

Speaking to Sky Sports before the match, Van de Ven said: “If you are a club like Tottenham Hotspur, you have this quality of place (training ground), and you are, what I say, as big as the most, it’s unacceptable that you’re standing at this place on the table, and the results need to be way, way better.

“It’s fair that [the fans] are disappointed, but they need to know, as well, that we keep working every day and day out to do everything about changing this around, because even for us, the vibes in the dressing room, the vibes after the games, if we lose, the meetings, it’s tough. It’s really tough. So we do everything to turn things around.”

Naming himself as one of five players who must step up and save the club from tumbling into the second tier, he continued: “Of course, we still have some quality players left. We have a really talented squad and some top players, but we also miss some key players for us, and it’s really important for the players who are fit right now to step up.

“You have some young players, obviously, in the group, and you can’t really ask them to be the guys that need to push us forward. So, then, normally, I have Cuti next to me, who is now unfortunately suspended, but you have [Guglielmo] Vic behind me, who has a lot of experience, Joao Palhinha, in the midfield, who has a lot of experience, [Dominic] Solanke, who has a lot of experience.”

Igor Tudor admits Tottenham are ‘full of problems’

Van de Ven is adamant that Spurs must stick together if they are to pull through and survive this season, concluding: “So you have some experience in the group, and then you just need to make sure that all the young guys speak out – just get everyone together. And I think that’s now most important, especially with the injuries we have.”

With the Thomas Frank era now in the rear-view mirror, Spurs will hope new manager Tudor is the man to help steer them to safety.

The Croatian – regarded as the ‘Croatian Sam Allardyce’ and having been warned he may well lead the club to relegation – has only been in charge nine days.

Yet his first match in charge was a rude awakening over the plight Spurs find themselves in and, while competitive in the first half, they were blown away by the league leaders after the break.

And in a stunning admission at full-time, Tudor admitted to BBC Radio Five Live: “Difficult start against a team who is now in this moment.

“A different level of physical state of mind, so congratulations to them. They were much better and they deserve this win. I got the spirit which we wanted to do things, but it was not enough. It is nice to understand where we are in this moment.”

Revealing the hard graft that is now required, he added: “It showed me on Tuesday that we need to work hard and work hard and seriously.

“Now, in this moment, the team is full of problems. The only key is to work on the training day by day and be humble. We need to be more aggressive – we need to be more compact. These are the keys.

“You understand the gap with the mental sharpness between one team and other teams. This is a thing we need to change. I saw players available to do this, but we need more time to do this.

“Thinking about relegation does not bring you anything to anybody.”

Latest Tottenham news: Romero replacement found; major Tudor update

With regards Tudor’s future, Tottenham sporting director, Johan Lange, has dropped a bombshell regarding the Croatian that won’t go unnoticed by Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto De Zerbi.

On the transfer front, Tottenham are reportedly battling two European giants for the signature of a readymade replacement for Romero, who a reliable source is adamant is leaving Spurs in the summer.