Micky van de Ven has launched a staunch defence of his commitment to Tottenham and insisted any reports of players not caring about the club’s precarious situation are nonsense.
Spurs are embroiled in a Premier League relegation battle and reached a nadir last Tuesday when they slipped to a club-record sixth consecutive loss with a 5-2 defeat at Atlético Madrid in the Champions League last-16.
Tottenham responded with a spirited display in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Sunday to provide fresh belief and Van de Ven, who has faced criticism following a red card earlier this month against Crystal Palace, hit back at suggestions some players have “checked out” in the survival battle.
“The only thing I can say is it’s not true. It would be strange if a player was in the dressing room now and saying, ‘I’m going to leave either way, or I don’t focus about the situation because everything that’s going to happen, it doesn’t affect me,’ so I think it’s just nonsense,” Van de Ven said.
“The other day when we read something about one guy that said to everyone that he’s probably going to leave and doesn’t care about the situation they’re in, and then someone reads this and we’re just like, how does this come out? People are just making things up.
“It’s just frustrating for us as well because it brings so much more trouble as well, because the fans are starting to believe this.
“Trust me all the people involved on the pitch, the staff, the players, everyone, they care so much about the situation we’re in right now.
“We just want to turn things around and that’s the most important, that’s the main focus for everyone.
“I just want to stay fit and turn things around. Obviously, the last games from my side hasn’t been the best and I know that as well.
“It’s just most important that I keep showing to everyone that I always give 100% to this club. I will always do as long as I play.
“For me, the most important is that we turn things around right now.”
Van de Ven had a watching brief for Sunday’s draw at Anfield after his costly sending-off against Palace.
The Dutch defender revealed he apologised for the red card and expressed his eagerness to put things right, starting with Wednesday’s visit of Atlético before the crunch six-pointer with Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
“It was just a moment in the game where it’s split-second decisions you make and obviously it was not the best decision I made at that point, so devastated obviously when I needed to go in and saw the red card. At half-time I just apologised to the guys,” Van de Ven explained.
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“Obviously I wasn’t there on the weekend but I watched the game at home and I have seen some unbelievable mentality from the team.
“You’re just sitting there on the sofa and just hoping that the guys score a goal because it’s what they deserved.
“What they showed, the character they showed in the game was unbelievable and when Richy [Richarlison] scores and it’s 1-1, it’s just happiness at home, screaming towards the TV. Just happy for him and just happy for the team.
“Tomorrow it’s just a beautiful game. We have nothing to lose. We want to do something special.
“We’re going to do everything to change things around tomorrow first and then afterwards in the Premier League games coming up.”
