Tottenham will be concerned about Micky van de Ven after announcement on Wednesday
Ange Postecoglou will be hopeful of Micky van de Ven returning to Tottenham at 100 per cent following the 2024 UEFA European Championships in Germany.
Van de Ven enjoyed an excellent debut season in North London.
After joining the club from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg last summer, the Dutchman quickly settled into life in the Premier League.
Following his impressive displays, the £43million deal which Daniel Levy agreed for the defender (via Sky Sports News, 8 August 2023) suddenly looks like quite the bargain.
However, the 22-year-old’s importance to Spurs was perhaps most apparent when he wasn’t playing.
Van de Ven was forced to miss a large chunk of the season due to a hamstring injury and suffered a similar issue – albeit less serious – toward the end of the campaign.
With that in mind, Postecoglou will be holding his breath this summer after it was confirmed that Van de Ven had been named in the Netherlands National Team squad for Euro 2024 (Tottenham Hotspur Official Website, 29 May).
Ange Postecoglou will wish Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven well ahead of the Euros
This is van de Ven’s first major international tournament, and he will hope to feature regularly.
But what Spurs supporters and Postecoglou will be hoping is that the centre-back doesn’t suffer another major injury.
Tottenham cannot afford to start the season without their star defender, something which the stats from last season prove.
As per fbref, Van de Ven was among the top 12 per cent of Premier League centre-backs for the number of tackles he won (1.35 per 90) and the top 11 per cent for the number of tackles he won in the defensive third (1.31 per 90).
Van de Ven ranked in the 95th percentile of his positional peers in England’s top flight for the number of take-ons he attempted (1.04 per 90) and the number of those take-ons which were successful (0.58 per 90).
His passing numbers were even more impressive as he ranked in the top two per cent for his pass completion rate (93.8 per cent per 90) and the 99th percentile for his completion rate over a long distance (79.8 per cent per 90).
Finally, his three Premier League goals (0.12 per 90) saw him rank in the top ten per cent of his fellow centre-backs for this particular statistic.
Van de Ven will be crucial to any success Tottenham have next season, and the North London side will need him at 100 per cent from day one.
In other Tottenham news, Postecoglou must ensure one “stunning” Under-21 ace doesn’t suffer after an announcement this week.
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