Cristian Romero blown away by Tottenham team-mate Micky van de Ven
Cristian Romero believes central-defensive colleague Micky van de Ven remains underrated for his performances in a Tottenham shirt.
The summer signing from Wolfsburg again caught the eye for Spurs, despite conceding twice in a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday (3 February).
Van de Ven led the way at Goodison Park in terms of his passing accuracy of 90 per cent – just down on his 95 per cent return for the season.
Indeed, as per FBref, Van den Ven is not only the top Spurs performer in that particular metric, but top overall among all Premier League players.
It is perhaps no coincidence that Romero and Ben Davies (both 92 per cent) feature 11th and 12th on the list.
Ange Postecoglou may only have been in charge for eight months, but that is a pretty telling metric in terms of what he wants from his players.
Top Premier League passer
When taking the past year into account, Van de Ven ranks in the top seven per cent of all centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues for pass completion (92 per cent) [FBref].
The Dutchman is in the top three per cent, meanwhile, for successful take-ons per 90 minutes (0.74), highlighting his ability to bring the ball out from the back.
Yet despite leading the way in some metrics and being near the top in others, Van de Ven does not get the credit he deserves in the view of Romero.
“In this moment, Micky is one of the best central defenders in the Premier League,” he is quoted as saying by The Sun [2 February].
“But marketing plays a big part in how people see you here – that’s why he is not spoken about enough. He doesn’t get any publicity and is not built up at all.
“But he’s doing so well and we hope that he can continue – I am so happy for him. He’s young, hungry and wants to get to the next level. He has a great career ahead.”
Micky van de Ven contract length
Van de Ven does indeed have a bright future ahead of him, and thankfully he is tied down at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until the summer of 2029.
Bringing the defender in from Wolfsburg for a fee of £43million [Sky Sports, 8 August] raised a few eyebrows, but that has been money well spent.
Even in the disappointing draw with Everton, Van de Ven produced a moment of brilliance when using his pace to get back and dispossess Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
That was not the only piece of defending the 22-year-old had to do, with his six clearances at least two more than any other outfield player on the pitch [WhoScored].
Richarlison may have grabbed the headlines from a Tottenham perspective, which was fair enough, but Van de Ven continues to show his worth.
Factor in his three aerial duels won on Merseyside – no visiting player won more – and you can see where Romero is coming from.
That is not to say there are not areas to improve, of course, as he ranks in the bottom two percentile in terms of interceptions per 90 minutes over the past year.
Using figures from just this season in the Premier League, Van de Ven’s 0.4 interceptions per game are only the joint-15th most among Tottenham players [WhoScored].
For a player still in the early stages of his career, and one who is showing constant signs of improvement, that is no doubt an aspect Van de Ven will continue to work on.
As for the here and now, Romero is spot on when he says that Tottenham already have “one of the best” centre-backs anywhere around on their books.
In other Tottenham news, a 40% player let Spurs down in the draw against Everton.
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