Postecoglou can be spared Levy axe at Tottenham on Thursday by returning star
Tottenham know their entire season rests on their upcoming Europa League round of 16 second leg with AZ Alkmaar.
The clash with AZ at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday (13 March) sees everything Ange Postecoglou and his regularly patched-up side have worked for all come to a boil.
With Spurs rooted inside the bottom half of the Premier League table and out of both domestic cups, there is no other route to a first major trophy in 17 years – nor any other means of European qualification for next season – without overcoming Alkmaar and going on to lift the cup in Bilbao in May.
Tottenham welcoming back star man at crucial time
A mixture of many ingredients has culminated in such a horrendous season at Tottenham, who – like fellow British Europa League competitors Manchester United and Rangers – are relying on the Europa League for their last hope of glory and pride from wretched campaigns.
One of those factors, in fairness to Postecoglou, has been the injuries with which he has contended. This has eased slightly of late, with important players returning, but results have still been inconsistent.
An out-of-form skipper in Son Heung-min bailed Tottenham out against Bournemouth with his penalty equaliser on Sunday (9 March), a contest which also witnessed the long-awaited return of Micky van de Ven.
Van de Ven is now fit and embodies the style Postecoglou has adopted at Spurs, who can break with a high defensive line due to not only the Dutchman’s boldness in possession, but his extraordinary pace which acts as an out-of-jail card to prevent being caught cold.
The 23-year-old, with former club Wolfsburg, was clocked in a Bundesliga match at a pace of 35.97 km/h before joining Tottenham – for whom he broke a Premier League record when he reached a sprint speed of 37.38 km/h in January 2024 (Premier League). For context, this is just 0.2 km/h short of Usain Bolt’s average 100m pace when breaking the event’s world record in 2009.
Having not played more than half a game since 8 December, van de Ven is a risk but one worth taking now – this is the biggest game of the season with Spurs a goal down in the tie. Postecoglou’s men need to, and will, attack in numbers. Van de Ven, who has averaged 6.04 late defensive recoveries per 90 minutes this season (Fotmob), is absolutely integral to preventing Alkmaar hitting on the counter.
Even in possession, the Dutch international facing many of his compatriots on Thursday is well capable. Van de Ven averages 1.04 progressive carries of over 10 yards (FBRef) per 90 minutes throughout his career – it is rare a centre-half ranks in at more than one per game.
His passing and beating of opponents is also key. Compared to other centre-halves at a similar standard over the past 365 days, the Spurs ace outranks 86 per cent of fellow defenders in pass completion (91.4 per cent), progressive passes (5.05 per 90 minutes) and 88 per cent of his competitors in successful take-ons (0.41 per 90).
Van de Ven to save Postecoglou his job
Postecoglou knows better than to give van de Ven anymore of a rest than he now requires. His half-hour against Bournemouth was with every intention of gearing him up for Thursday.
With Cristian Romero also back in the fold, having been forced to the sidelines at around the same time as his defensive partner, the first-choice duo are now available together for the manager.
| Premier League – fastest players | Speed (km/h) |
| Micky van de Ven | 37.38 |
| Kyle Walker | 37.31 |
| Chiedozie Ogbene | 36.93 |
| Pedro Neto | 36.86 |
AZ may have wished they were facing Spurs a little earlier given their returning players, but they will make themselves hard to break down in front of a testing attack far beyond what they are accustomed to in the Eredivisie.
If Tottenham bow out of the Europa League this week, it’s game over, and it surely has to be game over for Postecoglou. Daniel Levy will be watching on with intent, wondering whether his side’s worst season in some time can be salvaged.