“Every player is devastated at the situation - we all want to turn it around” | Every word of Micky’s pre-Atleti interview with SPURSPLAY | OneFootball

Micky van de Ven opened up on how much our current predicament is hurting both him and his team-mates and everyone at the Club in an exclusive interview with SPURSPLAY at Hotspur Way on Tuesday, ahead of our UEFA Champions League Round of 16, second leg against Atletico Madrid at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday evening (8pm UK).

From his red card against Palace, thoughts on the first leg against Atleti in Madrid to the team’s recovery at Anfield on Sunday and looking ahead to a huge few days in N17 – ending on Sunday with a crucial Premier League encounter against Forest – Micky spoke from the heart – here’s what he had to say...

First of all, how are you feeling going into this second leg? We know what happened in the first leg, is there belief that we can turn it around?

Micky: "Yeah, I think if there's no belief..."

There has to be belief, right?

Micky: "Exactly. There's belief in the whole group, in the dressing room, everywhere, there's belief that we can do something special."

Take us into that dressing room this week after Anfield, I know you were suspended so you watched from home, but what's it been like Monday and Tuesday since the players have been back?

Micky: “It just gives us a little boost. It sounds maybe strange because you've only got a point, but the situation we're in right now, every result we can get is a massive one. We've lost a lot of games lately, so when you can get a point away at Anfield, where the guys showed some great character and great mentality, that's a good feeling to go into the next day.”

It had to be Richy at Anfield as well, didn't it?

Micky: “Richy was unbelievable in the game, he kept fighting, and we know he loves to play against Liverpool, because that's his feeling every time. Yeah, an unbelievable performance from him.”

There’s no easy way to talk about it, but it’s been a difficult season – how are you and the team feeling about it?

Micky: “It's tough. The season is so tough for everyone in the dressing room as well, especially after Bilbao, everybody hopes to get the next season, you just keep building on that success, but we've been struggling this season. Obviously, we’ve had injuries, but also when we had the injuries we had some top players out on the pitch as well, but sometimes you need everyone together, and then this player falls out and this guy comes back in, and this guy falls out. It's obviously really tough when you're on the pitch and every time you need to walk off the pitch with zero points. The only thing you play for is to get the three points, because then you have to feel the whole week you've trained for something. So, it's just really tough in the dressing room as well, every player is just devastated with the situation we're in right now, and everybody just wants to turn this around as soon as possible.”

You're such an outgoing character, Micky - how has this affected you?

Micky: “A lot, the situation we're in right now is just difficult. Also, for me, playing-wise, you always want to play your best games. I know I haven't been playing my best lately, and obviously this is something I struggle with as well, because I always want to give my best to the fans and to the club and to the players. But as I said, the situation is just really tough, and it's just something we want to change around.”

I can't imagine what you felt when you walked down the tunnel after the red card against Palace - football hurts, doesn't it?

Micky: “It does, especially after you come 1-0 up, and it's just like a split-second moment, and it just happens. In this moment, you just pull him a little bit, and he just falls down straight away and in your head you know straight away what's going to happen. At that moment, you just do what you think is best. It sounds maybe strange, but it's just something that happens. It's just a split-second, and when you see that red card, it feels like you let the team down. Straight away at half-time I apologised to the guys as well, I just said, like, ‘yeah, sorry guys, this one is on me’. It even hurts me more that we come 1-0 up, and after this moment the whole game changes, and you see the guys as well, it's devastating. Even the second half with 10 men, they did really well, and they kept pushing, they kept fighting. It's just a really difficult moment. It hurts at that moment as well, because you have to feel that you've let the team down.”

Just talking to you now, you can see how much it gets to you, doesn't it? It's painful, you don't want to be in this position…

Micky: “No, because I don't think this club deserves to be in this position. Everybody in the club is working so hard to be where we need to be, and we are a top six team. Tottenham is a massive club, where it's an unbelievable place, where it's unbelievable people working at this training ground. We just don't deserve to be in this moment. The people, I would say, don't deserve to be, the club doesn't deserve to be in this moment, and it’s on us to change it around. It has been a really tough season, with the Atletico game, we have eight Premier League games left in the Premier League. We just need to make sure we get results there and turn things around, and then finish the season in a positive way, because that's difficult, but in a good way, and then just make sure we go again next season.”

Two games this week – Atletico Madrid, the manager said it’s ‘difficult, but not impossible’ – it’s all about belief that we can turn it around, right?

Micky: “Yeah, there is belief, obviously. What you say, if we don't have belief, we might as not play the game. Everybody has the belief we can turn things around…”

We did create chances out there…

Micky: “Obviously, there are three moments that killed the game straight away, with me slipping, with Toni slipping, moments that killed the whole game. Normally, this wouldn't happen. It was just like three things, the moment we're in right now, does this really need to happen right now? But it happened, and we can't change something about it, so we just need to make sure we go out there tomorrow night and give our all. Like I said, we have nothing to lose, so hopefully we can make it a nice one.”

I know your focus is on Atleti, but Forest is coming up Sunday, and that is… you tell me… massive….

Micky: “Yeah, massive, and a really important game. It's a must-win. It's before the international break, but hopefully we can win this game and go with a good feeling into the international break. What you said, it's a massive game for us, and we all well know how big this game is. Obviously, we first need to play tomorrow, we need to play a good game, and from there we build on to the weekend - but we all know that Sunday is a really important game, not only for us, but I think for the club and for the fans as well.”

The fans are going to be massive for us this week, aren't they?

Micky: “They're good for us. I know the situation is really tough for them as well, but it's just most important that they keep pushing us, keep standing behind us, and trust me, we’ll do everything to turn this around.”