Soccer Football - Premier League - Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - February 22, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Igor Tudor gives instructions to Yves Bissouma and Micky van de Ven during a break in play due to technical issues with the referee's communication REUTERS/David Klein EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 120 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE FOR FURTHER DETAILS..
Igor Tudor insists Micky van de Ven did not ignore his instructions during the defeat to Arsenal (Reuters)
Igor Tudor has dismissed suggestions that Mickey van de Ven ignored his tactical instructions during Tottenham’s 4-1 defeat to Arsenal last Sunday.
Spurs were convincingly beaten by their north London rivals in Tudor’s first game in charge and the result has left them just four points ahead of West Ham, who are 18th in the Premier League.
After the game, a video was widely shared across social media of Van de Ven appearing to ignore Tudor’s instructions from the touchline.
In the clip, Tudor could be seen urging his defensive players to push forward before holding out both arms in frustration as they remained in the same position.
When asked about the clip, Tudor said in his press conference on Thursday: ‘They showed it to me now, it’s a video from one fan? Usually I need to comment on a fan’s video?
‘I saw it but it was not an instruction to Mickey, it was an instruction to the team to go up, it was not about Mickey.
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‘It was about the team coming up, what we were speaking about before, we want to go up, we want to have this style where we press high. But the team, maybe in this moment, it is too much for them. So that’s why that’s what a little frustration from that, but this is part of it, nothing special happened.
‘If you watch carefully you see I don’t speak with him, after I said to him to come closer and he comes closer. In that moment it was for the whole defence to go up, not an individual.
‘We didn’t even speak about this, me and Mickey, because there was nothing to speak about. He’s a fantastic guy, a very good professional, he would not do those things.’
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