Micky Van De Ven

Spurs have the 4th worst defense in the league. Its one of the reasons they might be relegated

Romero and Danso are better than him. So he's the 3rd best CB at the club with the 4th worst defensive record

He might be okay as a leftback backup. He's not good enough at CB
Put it simply, this. His pace and mazy runs give him a highlight reel which will one up most other CBs and mask his deficiencies.
 
Put it simply, this. His pace and mazy runs give him a highlight reel which will one up most other CBs and mask his deficiencies.

Yeah this is exactly it. He's scored and set up some incredible goals. But the opposition just need to score basic schoolboy goals against his defending
 
Yeah I don't see this being some kind of masterstroke. I guess if it's as squad player who could hopefully reach a much more consistent level then maybe. I trust Vivell and co more than anyone else we've had here post Fergie so I'll defer to their knowledge. There are always bargains within the relegated clubs.
 
If they relegate and if he costs max 40 or something within that range, sure. Not shy of a defensive error at Spurs but what a unit he would be at corners, and we need those too with Casemiro leaving. Also good to have cover at LB.

Agree with others on Van Hecke being the better deal potentially.
 
The tactical meta at this point is you need big tall fast bastards and go man to man on the high press. We cannot leave a Martinez or Maguire man to man on the press and so we have to add a +1 at all times for added tactical security. The +1 at the back means you are -1 or even -2 if the opposition GK is half way competent when you're pressing. And as we've seen many times this season, even the Fulhams of the world can easily beat the press when you're pressing with a man or two disadvantage.

VDV solves that. Add to that the aerial ability he brings when defending corners / attacking corners.

I don't really have a strong opinion on his defending. He seems to do fine whenever I watch him play but that's only a few times a season.
 
The tactical meta at this point is you need big tall fast bastards and go man to man on the high press. We cannot leave a Martinez or Maguire man to man on the press and so we have to add a +1 at all times for added tactical security. The +1 at the back means you are -1 or even -2 if the opposition GK is half way competent when you're pressing. And as we've seen many times this season, even the Fulhams of the world can easily beat the press when you're pressing with a man or two disadvantage.

VDV solves that. Add to that the aerial ability he brings when defending corners / attacking corners.

I don't really have a strong opinion on his defending. He seems to do fine whenever I watch him play but that's only a few times a season.

Excatly this.

Who gives a flying feck about his defending skills?

You win titles by outscoring.

Get Truffert or Kadioglu type full back who runs his socks off for the whole 90', add Anderson and another MF and you got yourself a good team who just might sustain the energy and rhytm of playing Champions league football and not drop off in the Prem.

He's young, he's hungry, and he's a fecking beast.
 
I think he’s a decent player but he’d also just be Another injury prone player for which we have an abundance off already.
 
Excatly this.

Who gives a flying feck about his defending skills?

You win titles by outscoring.

Get Truffert or Kadioglu type full back who runs his socks off for the whole 90', add Anderson and another MF and you got yourself a good team who just might sustain the energy and rhytm of playing Champions league football and not drop off in the Prem.

He's young, he's hungry, and he's a fecking beast.
Yeah. Who cares if a defender can you know...defend.
 
Yeah. Who cares if a defender can you know...defend.

The point is, box defending is only one part of defending. I'm sure he'll be okay. Guys like Konate, Stones and co have won titles without being particularly good defenders.
 
The point is, box defending is only one part of defending. I'm sure he'll be okay. Guys like Konate, Stones and co have won titles without being particularly good defenders.
Yeah, and you pointed out his aerial ability when defending. His aerial duel success is worse than every CB you have this season. It's worse than both Danso and Romero.

Also what? Stones is far better at defending than VDV.
 
The tactical meta at this point is you need big tall fast bastards and go man to man on the high press. We cannot leave a Martinez or Maguire man to man on the press and so we have to add a +1 at all times for added tactical security. The +1 at the back means you are -1 or even -2 if the opposition GK is half way competent when you're pressing. And as we've seen many times this season, even the Fulhams of the world can easily beat the press when you're pressing with a man or two disadvantage.

VDV solves that. Add to that the aerial ability he brings when defending corners / attacking corners.

I don't really have a strong opinion on his defending. He seems to do fine whenever I watch him play but that's only a few times a season.
He isn't going to be short of offers if Spurs go down. Utd, Liverpool, Bayern have now all been linked with him this summer.

Kills to birds with one stone with ability to provide cover at LB and CB. Also good in the air as you said and his pace means you can play a high press and rely on his speed to bail you out.
 
Yeah, and you pointed out his aerial ability when defending. His aerial duel success is worse than every CB you have this season. It's worse than both Danso and Romero.

Link for the stats?

I use https://scoutlab.streamlit.app/ these days, and you're right it's surprisingly low for a guy his size. Dribbling, ground duels seem good but over multiple seasons the aerials are not good.
 
Yeah I was wrong about him, thought he was class but he's been awful this season. Apart from his mistake against Brighton I'd say Danso is Spurs' best defender.
 
When he was interested, he was absolutely performing like one of the best CB in the world. Big concern that he let his levels drop so much, but I think he’s a superstar CB in the right setup
 
I don’t like him. Overrated. His pace masks a lot of deficiencies, not to mention his injuries and his tendencies to dive into tackles. If we’re gonna spend money on a CB I’d hope that we could find a better one than him
 
About a month ago the muppeteer said that united might be interested in a LB who can play as CB or viceversa. That would kill two birds with one stone. Now I don't want VDV. However I do wonder if we are seeing him as a lb. The pace and the dribbling is there and while he's horrendous in air he's half decent for LB standards. I wonder what's his crossing ability is
 
Yeah. Who cares if a defender can you know...defend.

Football has changed.

The era of Nemanja's and Terry's is long gone. You don't actually need defenders who can defend. You need defenders who are comfortable with the ball and can pass.

Just look at the stats and compare them to 15-20 years ago. Top 10 Prem in most completed passes, 8 out of 10 are centrebacks. VDV is in the range of Bruno Fernandes and Gabriel, with a better accuracy percentage actually. Playing for a shit team.

That, and he's fecking rapid.
 
Football has changed.

The era of Nemanja's and Terry's is long gone. You don't actually need defenders who can defend. You need defenders who are comfortable with the ball and can pass.

Just look at the stats and compare them to 15-20 years ago. Top 10 Prem in most completed passes, 8 out of 10 are centrebacks. VDV is in the range of Bruno Fernandes and Gabriel, with a better accuracy percentage actually. Playing for a shit team.

That, and he's fecking rapid.
That's just complete bollocks.

He's part of a team that's been in the top 5 goals conceded in the PL this season and last season. Guess where they have and will likely finish in each season? Bottom 5. Of course it matters to have defenders who can defend. It's just better having ones that can defend AND can play a bit.
 
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I actually wonder if he'd be okay next to an ex-top CB who is in their latter years. Say for example VVD. If he babysat Van Der Ven the combination might do okay. We don't have a CB to do that here and it might not work anyway
 
Football has changed.

The era of Nemanja's and Terry's is long gone. You don't actually need defenders who can defend. You need defenders who are comfortable with the ball and can pass.

Just look at the stats and compare them to 15-20 years ago. Top 10 Prem in most completed passes, 8 out of 10 are centrebacks. VDV is in the range of Bruno Fernandes and Gabriel, with a better accuracy percentage actually. Playing for a shit team.

That, and he's fecking rapid.
Surely that’s because of the shite of modern football with teams timidly knocking it around the back line side to side to side…

CHs get tons of touches and their pass percentage is going to be high because it’s full of sideways 15 yard passes to a defensive teammate.
 
Crap defender but very fast. He's like an injury prone young Kyle Walker I suppose.
 
Football has changed.

The era of Nemanja's and Terry's is long gone. You don't actually need defenders who can defend. You need defenders who are comfortable with the ball and can pass.

Just look at the stats and compare them to 15-20 years ago. Top 10 Prem in most completed passes, 8 out of 10 are centrebacks. VDV is in the range of Bruno Fernandes and Gabriel, with a better accuracy percentage actually. Playing for a shit team.

That, and he's fecking rapid.

If that was the case Barcelona would play only midfielders in defence. Its not true. They need defenders who can defend when they need to as well as being good on the ball
 
Excatly this.

Who gives a flying feck about his defending skills?

You win titles by outscoring.

Get Truffert or Kadioglu type full back who runs his socks off for the whole 90', add Anderson and another MF and you got yourself a good team who just might sustain the energy and rhytm of playing Champions league football and not drop off in the Prem.

He's young, he's hungry, and he's a fecking beast.
He’s young and that’s it. He’s a big reason why Spurs have been crap the past 2 years.

He can’t fecking defend.
 
Football has changed.

The era of Nemanja's and Terry's is long gone. You don't actually need defenders who can defend. You need defenders who are comfortable with the ball and can pass.

Just look at the stats and compare them to 15-20 years ago. Top 10 Prem in most completed passes, 8 out of 10 are centrebacks. VDV is in the range of Bruno Fernandes and Gabriel, with a better accuracy percentage actually. Playing for a shit team.

That, and he's fecking rapid.
This exact same rhetoric was used to justify the Onana signing and look how brilliant that turned out.

Hate to break it to you fellas but goal keepers still need to be able to save shots and defenders still need to be able to tackle. Anything on top is a bonus but the basics are still a must.
 
Still dining out on that goal at Old Trafford and the goalline clearance in Europa League Final, maybe IF we could see more of those moments I could warm to him. Mind you Jacobs (TUS twerker) says he would choose the scousers over us anyway so probably academic.
 
Undoubtedly an incredibly powerful runner but I feel like his pace masks a lot. Add it that his explosiveness makes him susceptible to hamstring injuries and not sure it's worth it.
Yeah that's exactly why he picks up hamstring problems
 
Still dining out on that goal at Old Trafford and the goalline clearance in Europa League Final, maybe IF we could see more of those moments I could warm to him. Mind you Jacobs (TUS twerker) says he would choose the scousers over us anyway so probably academic.
Not that I want Van De Ven But Jacobs knows absolutely nothing .
 
I don't think he's as bad as this season suggests, just a player having his worst season in a team that's in meltdown. I don't remember too many people suggesting he was a poor defender before this season but I may have missed it if they were.

Whilst his pace might cover for some deficiencies, it's an asset, and he has it, so if it helps him defend situations then I don't think you can hold that against him. Frankly I want all future CB signings to be fast.

But he has too many red flags. Shocking aerial stats which is one area we were meant to upgrade on Martinez when we buy his replacement. Injury prone before this season. Poor this season, if there's a lack of defensive fundamentals that might suggest when he loses some pace as he gets older he'll drop off a cliff.


2 of our signings being VDV and Baleba, both off the back of horrendous seasons would be a little concerning.