ANGE POSTECOGLOU pulled no punches when discussing his former player in his capacity as a World Cup pundit on ITV.
The former Spurs manager appeared alongside Gary Neville and Roy Keane to give his verdict on the Netherlands’ 2-2 draw with Japan.
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Ange Postecoglou ripped into his former player on ITV’s World Cup coverage Credit: ITV
Spurs star Micky van de Ven played Japan onside for their first equaliser of a 2-2 draw Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
But he had no mercy for his former player Micky van de Ven after an error from the Dutchman contributed to an equaliser for Japan.
Japanese winger Keito Nakamura received the ball on the edge of the Netherlands box and fired an effort towards the near bottom corner.
The ball took a slight flick off one of Daizen Maeda and Jan Paul van Hecke, who were tussling in the middle of the pitch.
But while the goal looked as though it might be chalked off due to Maeda’s involvement behind the defensive line, replays showed Van de Ven got caught well behind his team-mates, playing the Celtic star onside.
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Postecoglou broke down the goal in his post-match analysis, pinning the blame squarely on his shoulders.
The Aussie tactician said: “You can see here, they’ve been running in that half- space really well the whole game, and then it comes out to Nakamura.
“The Dutch defence comes out, but then Van de Ven stays in, so when he strikes the ball, Maeda is in an offside position, but you can see Van de Ven on the left.
“As the ball comes out, the rest of the back four moves out, he stays in, and they get back into the game.”
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The goal marked an important equaliser for the Japanese side, who were trailing at the time thanks to an inch-perfect header from Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
The Dutch fans rejoiced again just seven minutes later as West Ham star Crysencio Summerville cut inside from the right wing and curled an effort in off the far post.
But the Samurai Blue struck back again in the dying moments of the game, with Koki Ogawa’s header bouncing fortunately off Crystal Palace man Daichi Kamada‘s head and beating Bart Verbruggen in the Netherlands’ goal.
