Micky van de Ven insists Tottenham players need to show more passion from minute one

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Micky van de Ven has identified what Tottenham Hotspur are failing to do after the Lilywhites suffered yet another defeat on Saturday.

Spurs were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first time of asking on Saturday as Aston Villa became the latest side to inflict a defeat on the North Londoners at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The away side went into the break with a deserved 2-0 lead, with boos predictably ringing around the stadium at the half-time whistle.

However, to the North Londoners’ credit, they came out as a galvanised side in the second period, getting one back through Wilson Odobert and proceeding to put Villa under lots of pressure.

Micky van de Ven questions Tottenham’s lack of passion in the first-half

The Tottenham fans responded when the team showed some fight and hunger in the second period, and Van de Ven admitted that he was pleased with the passion on display.

However, the centre-back, who wore the captain’s armband on the day, insisted that the team cannot wait until they are being before rallying in the manner they did against Villa.

When asked about the response from Tottenham in the second-half, the Dutchman said (via BBC Sport): “I think it’s good passion. But we shouldn’t be bringing this passion only when we are behind. If we start a game like this, it will be a whole different game.

“We were nowhere near in the first half like what we did in the second. We need to do this for the full 90 minutes. Then we will be a totally different team.

“We have had too many ups and downs. We have too many games that we play at a good level and then there are games where we are way below our level. That’s what we need to work on and be more consistent.”

Will Thomas Frank take the right lessons from Spurs’ recent performances?

It is all doom and gloom surrounding Tottenham at the moment, and it is hard for supporters to see any light at the end of the tunnel.

However, there are some positives to take from the performances against Bournemouth and Villa, with the Lilywhites looking threatening in attack for big spells in both games, even though the results may not have ultimately gone their way.

Hopefully, Frank has seen enough evidence that Spurs have the quality to put opposition teams under pressure when he takes the handbrakes off.