Gabriel Agbonlahor raves about ‘outstanding’ Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven
Micky van de Ven will be central to any success Ange Postecoglou has with Tottenham this season.
Spurs have made a mixed start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.
After a disappointing 1-1 draw with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Monday (19 August), the North London outfit swept Everton aside with ease, securing a 4-0 win over the Toffees at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday (24 August).
It leaves Postecoglou’s side on four points after two matches played. However, the club face a tricky task of adding anything to that tally with some difficult matches coming up.
Following a trip to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United (1 September), Spurs will welcome their North London rivals Arsenal to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (15 September).
And if they have any hope of taking points away from those matches, they will need centre-back van de Ven fit and firing.
Agbonlahor described the “outstanding” van de Ven as “the best centre-back in the league”.
And after a deeper look at the stats from his performance against the Toffees, it would be hard to argue against that.
Micky van de Ven shines as Tottenham thrash Everton
First and foremost, van de Ven’s assist for Son Heung-min’s second goal and Spurs’ fourth is what would have caught most supporters’ eyes.
The defender ran the length of the pitch before laying off the ball for his captain to drive home.
In truth, van de Ven didn’t have much defending to do and wasn’t at his best in this area of the pitch as he won just one of his three aerial duels and one of his six ground duels (Sofascore).
He did make two interceptions and block one shot. However, it was on the ball where he really demonstrated his quality, completing 93 per cent of his passes, with one of those key.
Against Leicester he was much better defensively, winning 100 per cent of his ground and aerial duels while making three clearances.
In addition, he was just as effective in possession, completing 94 per cent of his passes and playing four accurate long balls.
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