Micky van de Ven believes Tottenham have more threat this season in their plan to reach another level in the Premier League and claim a trophy. The 23-year-old Dutchman gave his Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou a scare in the first half of the 4-0 win against Everton on Saturday when he hyperextended his knee. However, he appeared to shake it off and in the second half embarked on an 80-yard run up the pitch before setting up Son Heung-min for Tottenham’s fourth goal. First up was the matter of that knee which had Van de Ven in plenty of pain and needing treatment on the pitch.
Micky van de Ven said “It’s OK – we have to check it but it feels OK, I just decided to keep going, hopefully nobody could stop me, and nothing happened. I knew Sonny was on my left so I kept driving at the centre back and at the right moment I played Sonny in. Was I tempted to have a crack? No – Sonny was there and I knew he would finish it off. When I was dribbling with the ball you could sense everyone in the stadium was getting really hyped and it felt good. Those sort of forward movements by the Tottenham defenders are encouraged by Postecoglou and it’s something Van de Ven relishes. We have the possibility to do this, Ange gives us the possibility to do it and I feel comfortable to play like this. He trusts his defenders, and he trusts everybody in the team to play that way and it’s really important for us to feel that trust.”
Spurs have plenty of attacking options this season with the addition of £65million striker Dominic Solanke and £30million winger Wilson Odobert, with the latter enjoying a promising debut on Saturday. Van de Ven believes Tottenham will be a more multi-dimensional threat across the coming campaign with more strikers, wingers galore, defenders who can attack and a growing bunch of attacking midfielders, with young summer arrivals Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray also in the mix. ”
Micky van de Ven said ” Yes, I believe so – like the gaffer said, we can play down the side, through the middle and two or three balls from Deki to Maddison were really dangerous, and there were more threats from outside this year. We need to reach another level this season – last year we were fifth, so it was a good season, but we want more. We want to win a trophy, that’s clear.”
One man who was back in the team on Saturday was Yves Bissouma , the 27-year-old midfielder returning from a one-game club-imposed suspension handed out after uploading footage of himself inhaling nitrous oxide. The Mali international produced a rocket of a strike to open the scoring, his first goal for the club and the first step to winning back the trust of his manager and team-mates. ”
Micky van de Ven said “Biss gave a really good performance today, but you’ll have to ask the gaffer if it’s all finished now. He showed a really good responsibility this week and also on matchday – that’s all I have to say about it.”
