Micky van de Ven was at the centre of an unfortunate incident with Alexander Isak in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 home defeat to Liverpool.
Alexander Isak has sustained a fracture in his left leg and had surgery, Liverpool have confirmed. He had an operation on what Liverpool described as “an ankle injury that included a fibula fracture”.
The Sweden striker is expected to be sidelined for at least a couple of months, which is a big blow for Arne Slot’s side. Alexander Isak sustained a fracture to his left leg following a sliding tackle from Micky van de Ven as he scored the opener for the Reds in a 2-1 win at Spurs last weekend.
The Tottenham centre-back went in with a heavy tackle to attempt to stop Isak’s shot. Unfortunately, the Dutchman’s challenge ended up injuring Liverpool’s record buy, and he was then forced off with an injury straight after scoring the goal. The 26-year-old was in visible discomfort and was helped off the pitch by medical staff.
There have been calls on Micky van de Ven to get retrospective action for his challenge on Alexander Isak
There have been calls on Micky van de Ven to get retrospective action for his challenge on Alexander Isak
John Wenham defends Micky van de Ven after his challenge injured Isak
There has been a lot of talk going on over Micky van de Ven’s challenge that led to Isak’s injury. Liverpool boss Arne Slot has expressed his unhappiness with Van de Ven’s actions, calling his challenge on Isak “reckless”. ESPN FC pundit Frank Leboeuf believes that the Spurs defender should have faced repercussions for the challenge, which has led to a serious injury for the Liverpool forward.
However, reputable Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose owner John Wenham has defended Van de Ven, claiming that the 24-year-old did not intentionally set out to hurt Isak as he is not that type of player.
”Van de Ven had to make a challenge to try and stop Isak from scoring,” John Wenham exclusively told Tottenham News.
“Van de Ven is not the sort of player to make a challenge that would endanger an opposing player.”
Should Van de Ven face retrospective action?
There will be different opinions and most of them could be influenced by the long-term injury sustained to Isak, but it does not have to be a result of dangerous play- it can simply be an unfortunate incident.
When Isak released the shot, Van de Ven slid in to try to make a block. Importantly, it is the Liverpool centre-forward’s shooting foot that gets injured after he plants it. To his dismay, the Swede’s foot lands between the Tottenham star’s legs, leading to a fracture. It was a genuine challenge to block the shot, something most of the defenders would do. Sadly, he couldn’t stop the goal from happening and has also put Isak on the sidelines for two months.
As it was an accidental collision as part of a defender’s instinctive reaction to stop a player from taking a shot, there should be no retrospective action on Van de Ven.