Tottenham Hotspur’s standout signing of the season undeniably comes in the form of defender Micky van de Ven.
The Dutch centre-half was brought in from Wolfsburg last summer for a significant transfer fee of €40 million, and he has more than lived up to expectations since his arrival.
Van de Ven has been exceeding expectations with his performances and was recently clocked as the fastest player in the English top flight.
And he was once again incredible during Saturday’s win against Crystal Palace, earning praises from players and pundits alike.
Manager Ange Postecoglou joined in on the praise as he lauded the defender for yet another solid display in the 3-1 win against The Eagles.
During the match, Van de Ven demonstrated his exceptional passing ability by completing 95 out of 101 passes with an accuracy rate of 94%. He also showcased his ball control skills by completing 100% of his dribbles.
Additionally, he made significant defensive contributions with 4 defensive actions and 6 recoveries, while also winning 8 out of 9 ground duels with an impressive success rate of 89%, according to data from FotMob.
Speaking in a post-match press conference, Postecoglou lauded Van de Ven’s growth and maturity on the field, expressing his belief that the young defender has limitless potential.
The Australian manager was quoted by the official Tottenham website as saying:
“Micky has been outstanding all year, and he’s growing all the time, we see it in training. The growth in him, his maturity, his physical capacity, there is just no ceiling for that guy. He was important today.
We didn’t have to defend deep, they were going to try to play on the counter attack and there was going to be a lot of space, and that suits him because of his speed and ability to track people down. I thought he was really important today.”
The Netherlands international was a regular name on Tottenham’s teamsheet, starting in all eleven league games at the beginning of the season before suffering a hamstring injury against Chelsea last November.
The injury sidelined him for nearly two months, causing him to miss ten games for Spurs. Nevertheless, he returned in the second week of January and has since been back at his best.
Van de Ven is a top-tier talent who will strengthen the club’s backline for years to come.
