Tottenham’s start to life under new manager Thomas Frank has largely gone under the radar. Spurs are consistently looking a LOT steadier than they were under Ange Postecoglou, currently all the way up in third in the Premier League.
Admittedly, their opening run of fixtures has been relatively kind, with their only real test coming when they travelled to Man City, passing that in flying colours with a relatively comfortable 2-0 win.
One person that isn’t being overlooked, however, is their electric centre-back Micky van de Ven. The 24-year-old has been in the best form of his Spurs career, even scoring a brace in the recent 3-0 win over Everton.
Van de Ven has been integral to everything good happening at Tottenham; should he now be considered the best in the league?
An attacking unicorn
One of the craziest stats to come out of the Dutchman’s time at Tottenham was the fact that Van de Ven recorded the fastest sprint in the competition’s history, clocking a ridiculous 37.38km/h against Brentford in January 2024.
That incredible pace gives Tottenham somewhat of a get out of jail free card, allowing Van de Ven to play with more attacking freedom, which he is clearly enjoying. Quite frankly, for a centre-back, his attacking numbers are ridiculous.
The three goals in the Premier League so far is the obvious stand out, putting him on level terms with two big summer striker signings Viktor Gyokeres and Hugo Ekiteke, making him the highest scoring defender in the English top flight.
His underlying numbers show just how clinical he is. Van de Ven is currently overperforming his xG (1.55) by nearly 100%, with his three goals coming from his three shots on target, totalling seven attempts on goal altogether.
Perhaps one of the most underrated aspects of his game is his passing. Van de Ven has already completed 542 with a success rate of 92.3%. Yes, Spurs still like to play out from the back under Frank, but that doesn’t mean that those passes have been sideways, to other defenders or even the ‘keeper.
Van de Ven has made 55 passes into the final third, showing that he is clearly the man Tottenham go through when starting attacks. Interestingly enough, he’s also had 14 touches in the opposition box, so he’s often there to finish them too.
Defensive deficiencies
All of those attacking numbers sound great, having a centre-back who can also pop up as a genuine goal threat is a huge bonus, they just have to be doing the business on the other end of the pitch too.
Van de Ven hasn’t really been a top-class defender this season, although that it likely a tactical choice from Frank, allowing him to affect the game further up the field rather than just sit back and hoover up.
The Dutchman has made just nine tackles across his nine Premier League games, winning 28 duels, which is just 54.9% of those he’s attempted. Van de Ven isn’t particularly good in the air either, winning 12 with a 50% success rate.
What he is good at, which is likely down to how bloody quick he is, is interceptions and recoveries. Van de Ven has intercepted opposition passes on 10 occasions and made 34 recoveries, which is nine more than centre-back partner Cristian Romero.
Verdict
Van de Ven is unlike any other centre-back in the Premier League, and perhaps Europe’s top five leagues as a whole. To be considered the best in the country, however, he needs to flex his defensive muscles a little more.
They are there, in his first season at the club (2023-24), he ended the Premier League season having won 49 tackles and 119 duels. Since Spurs were so bad as a collective last season, it would be unfair to use those numbers.
For now, and Spurs fans won’t want to hear this, Arsenal duo William Saliba and Gabriel are far and away the best centre-backs in the league at the moment.