Rio Ferdinand reacts to Micky van de Ven display for Tottenham at Newcastle

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Ahead of Tottenham Hotspur taking on Newcastle United on Saturday, there was real belief that what happened to Spurs last year at St James’ Park was a distant memory.

Tottenham fell to a humiliating 6-1 loss to the Magpies in April 2023, with the hosts going 3-0 up by the 10-minute mark and cruising at 5-0 up by the half-hour mark.

Sadly, while Spurs didn’t capitulate as badly – and as early on – this time round, the travelling Lilywhites fans still had to travel back down to London having witnessed a 4-0 hammering.

Tottenham conceded their first on the half-hour mark as Alexander Isak latched on to Anthony Gordon’s pass, cut inside and fired low into the corner of the net.

Newcastle then made it two just two minutes later as Gordon went from provider to scorer, leaving the usually reliable Micky van de Ven in his wake before finishing emphatically.

The in-form Isak then grabbed his second not long after the break, racing onto Bruno Guimaraes’ long pass and firing home, with Van de Ven caught out once again.

Tottenham, by this point completely down and out, conceded a fourth late on as Fabian Schar nodded home from Gordon’s corner.

What has Rio Ferdinand now said about Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven?

Van de Ven has been one of Spurs’ best players this season, proving a revelation following his move from Wolfsburg. However, he really struggled on Saturday.

The £100,000-a-week ace slipped over at crucial moments for both of Newcastle’s first-half goals. he then to get back for the third but couldn’t stop Isak from getting his brace.

Rio Ferdinand was full of praise for Van de Ven ahead of the game. Speaking on TNT Sports, he called him “an absolute Rolls Royce of a centre-half and has the chance to be one of the best defenders around.”

Lynsey Hipgrave brought this up to Ferdinand post-match, to which he replied: “Sometimes Rolls-Royces do have technical issues, they have to go through the MOT and get a once-over!”

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Honestly, Ferdinand is just unlucky. Van de Ven has rightly been getting praise from pundits and fans all season, it’s just bad luck for the pundit that, when he sings the player’s praises, he then ends up having a bad game.

All players have bad games, even the Messis, Ronaldos and Mbappes of the world, and you forget that Van de Ven is just 22. He’s young, he’ll use the experience to learn and get better.