View: Tottenham were better off without Micky van de Ven after poor display v Sheff United
Tottenham were better off without defender Micky van de Ven in the victory over Sheffield United on Saturday (16 September).
The Dutchman was substituted by midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the 95th minute with his side 1-0 down before two late goals then earned Spurs a 2-1 win.
The 22-year-old big-money signing had a disappointing afternoon as he lost out in a number of duels in the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The centre-back joined Tottenham from Wolfsberg in a deal that could eventually rise to £43million including add-ons after penning a six-year deal [Sky Sports].
He was part of a strong backline for the Bundesliga side last season, with Spurs managing to fend off interest from other clubs to persuade him into making the move to North London.
He has had a reasonably solid start to life at the club as Ange Postecoglou aims to transform the side and make them much more competitive in the Premier League this season.
The Australian has so far done a very good job following their unbeaten start to the season, with the late comeback over the Blades ensuring they kept up the pace with league leaders Manchester City.
Van de Ven has played an integral role in that early success for the Lilywhites, having kept two clean sheets and recorded three ratings above a seven in the four games before Saturday’s fixture [SofaScore].
But he struggled to deal with the aerial threat posed by Sheff United forward Oli McBurnie, with his match rating dropping to 6.5 – the lowest of any Spurs player on the pitch, as the side averaged a 7.27.
After committing just 0.4 fouls per game on average in the opening five matches, that total rose dramatically to two fouls against the Blades.
The defender also made just one clearance before he was subbed off, having made 3.2 on average to show he wasn’t quite as effective in removing the danger for his side.
He also didn’t make any interceptions or block any shots, while he lost possession on four occasions and was unsuccessful with the one dribble he attempted.
The Dutchman was successful with just 50 per cent of the ground duels he was involved in and he only won five of the 15 aerial duels he competed for, which is obviously quite low for a centre-back.
He hasn’t been entirely convincing in the air in general this season, having won just 44 per cent of his duels despite his 6’4″ frame.
But his duels on the ground have been much better than he showed on Saturday across the season, averaging a success rate of 71 per cent across the campaign so far.
It wasn’t the best afternoon for Van de Ven against Sheff United, with his frailties in the air exposed and his stats in other departments down on previous weeks.
He has, however, shown more than enough in the other games and Postecoglou will have every faith in him being able to bounce back when Spurs face Arsenal in the North London Derby next Sunday (24 September).
In other Tottenham news, one player sent a message with his impressive cameo against Sheffield United.