Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven was involved in a heated argument with Spurs fans following their late defeat to Bournemouth, with Thomas Frank weighing in
Micky van de Ven found himself in a heated exchange with Tottenham supporters following their late defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday night.
Sky Sports cameras briefly caught the Spurs defender in a row with fans in the away end just moments after the final whistle. Tottenham appeared destined to earn a point on their trip to the Vitality Stadium after Joao Palhinha’s late equaliser, only for Antoine Semenyo to score the decisive goal for the Cherries during added time.
With tempers flaring, Van de Ven had to be pulled away from a confrontation with some of the travelling Spurs supporters. A two-minute video clip of the post-match scenes shows Van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Palhinha all getting involved with the away fans. The latter pair seemed to be attempting to calm the situation, though Porro was subsequently held back by Guglielmo Vicario before being led away.
Van de Ven had been issued a yellow card earlier in the match for his protests to the referee after a penalty he’d won was overruled following a VAR check. Thomas Frank was asked about the confrontation between Tottenham fans and players when he spoke to the media after the defeat on the south coast.
Frank said: “I haven’t seen that situation, that’s one thing. I think it’s fair to say everyone involved in Tottenham, players, staff, fans, everyone is a tough one to take today.
“I think hopefully everyone can see how hard we worked to get everything in the right direction. And I think overall the performance was good, especially in the second half, in a game where we deserved to get more.
“That is extremely painful to be part of, so of course people are frustrated, I’m frustrated, so that’s natural.”
Frank was also asked about a moment which actually occurred before kick-off, where he was spotted drinking from an Arsenal cup, which had been left at the Vitality Stadium following the Gunners’ 3-2 victory the previous weekend.
When quizzed about the incident, the Spurs boss responded: “Definitely not noticed it. I think it’s fair to say that we’re not winning every single football match so it would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal.
“Is there anyone thinking I’ve done that? All the staff has done it.
“They’ve been in the changing room, the game before us. Its normal to take a cup, give me an espresso, I do that before every game. I think actually it’s a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked a question about that.
“I think we’re definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to worry about me having a cup with another logo of another club, of course I’ll never do that. That’s extremely stupid.”