On Sunday, away against Manchester United, Micky van de Ven provided his second athletic assist of the year to set up Tottenham’s first goal.
After Marcus Rashford made a clumsy touch, the Dutch defender pounced, dribbling forward quickly for around 70 yards before crossing for Brennan Johnson to tap in.
In response to the goal, former United captain Gary Neville praised the Dutch ace. He said, “Excellent,” live on Sky Sports. “Very impressive work from Van de Ven.” One of the best centre back runs I’ve ever witnessed.
On social media, though, a lot of supporters accused Rashford of giving up too easy and not making a strong enough effort to reclaim the ball.
Rashford had the opportunity to commit by fouling or tackling Van de Ven at that precise moment, according to one commenter. However, he acts irrationally and swings as though he’s angry, then we are punished. He lacks the team’s fighting spirit, aggressiveness, and desire to succeed. Although gifted, Rashford is a waste.
Micky van de Ven (left) intercepted the ball after a heavy touch by Marcus Rashford (centre)
Van de Ven then carried the ball forward at remarkable speed before providing an assist
After sprinting past several Red Devils players, Van de Ven produced a precise low cross
Van de Ven raised his fist in celebration after Brennan Johnson (not in shot) scored for Spurs
Rashford looked frustrated during the first half at Old Trafford and he was criticised by fans
Another fan fumed: ‘Typical Marcus Rashford. All his fault that goal. Terrible touch.’
A third message on X (formerly Twitter) read: ‘Marcus Rashford made a massive contribution in the Tottenham opening goal, lol. Such a rash run to take two sturdy defenders.’
Before losing the ball to Van de Ven, Rashford had run past Destiny Udogie. But Van de Ven’s remarkable run then saw him bust away from Rashford, Manuel Ugarte, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt before his cross evaded Lisandro Martinez.
A fourth fan suggested that both Ugarte and Rashford deserved blame for Johnson’s goal.
They wrote: ‘Rashford had absolutely no interest whatsoever once he lost it and Ugarte, the player they signed to be the ball winner, couldn’t get anywhere near Van de Ven’.