Despite a superb win over Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening, it was not all sunshine and rainbows for Spurs. Micky van de Ven was forced off early on with a hamstring issue, giving fans PTSD over the injury against Chelsea that kept him out for two months last season.
A Physio Scout has suggested that the defender suffered either further tightness, or a moderate hamstring strain in the process. Tightness would sideline him for less than a week, whilst a moderate strain could be 2-4 weeks. The scout also pointed out that he had felt his hamstring pre-game.
Whilst of course we will all be hoping that it is further tightness, rather than a moderate strain, it seems that either way – he will not be out for as long as his period on the sidelines last season. The international break after next week comes at a very handy time in this regard.
Even in a best case scenario, he is set to miss the game with Aston Villa this weekend. Villa under Unai Emery look to play a very intense high line, and try to get in behind teams. The pace of Ollie Watkins and/or Jhon Duran will be a threat, and having van de Ven to try and combat that would have been ideal.
Still, Radu Dragusin looked pretty good in the win over City, and will be hoping for a similar performance against Villa, assuming he gets the nod to play. Cristian Romero came off five minutes into the second half against City with fatigue, so should be fresh and ready to go. Had he played on, and got injured – Spurs would really be in trouble in the middle of defence.
If it is a moderate strain, van de Ven would miss the clashes with Galatasaray and Ipswich Town before the international break, and perhaps even Manchester City the game after it – in a worst case scenario.
The final week before the break is set to be an intense one, with Spurs playing in Istanbul – the best part of 2000 miles away – less than 72 hours before they face Ipswich at home. The squad will be needed, and it would be really useful if Ange had van de Ven at his disposal for it.
The game against AS Roma in the Europa League on the 28th of November will be four weeks and one day since the City game, so you would think at absolute worst, that is the game he will be back for. Let’s hope it is a lot sooner than that.