‘Not the reason’ – Postecoglou completely dismisses question about Spurs defeat 

Ange Postecoglou has dismissed suggestions that Micky van de Ven’s absence is the reason why Tottenham Hotspur fell to a 3-0 loss at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

The result and the performances came as a complete shock to Spurs fans, who were expecting the side to kick on and go on a good run after their morale-boosting win over 4-0 at Villa Park a week ago.

The only change to the line-up from the game was Van de Ven, with Radu Dragusin coming into the starting lineup for the injured Dutchman.

The Romanian and Destiny Udogie both had nights to forget as they struggled to deal with Fulham’s overloads on their right and were left exposed all game.

Van de Ven should not be critical to Spurs success

That, combined with Tottenham’s poor record when Van de Ven has been out injured this season, has led some to conclude that it was the 22-year-old’s absence that was the cause of Spurs’ struggles, but that is a notion that Postecoglou dismissed out of hand.

When the Tottenham head coach was asked if the team missed Van de Ven’s pace and composure at the back, he responded (via BBC Sport): “That’s not the reason we didn’t perform today. Micky van de Ven is not the reason we didn’t perform today.”

Spurs Web Opinion

There is no doubt that Van de Ven is extremely important to the Spurs side but putting that loss on his absence is a bit of a lazy analysis. I feel this attempt to simply put it down to a lack of effort and application from the players (although it has some merit) is also a cop-out.

Postecoglou and the coaching staff need to take this one on the chin as they were tactically outdone by Marco Silva. They need to go back to the drawing board and make some tactical tweaks to ensure we do not see a repeat of this.

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