‘Open arms’ – Spurs summer signing admits he already ‘feels at home’ at the club
Micky van de Ven has admitted he has thoroughly enjoyed his first eight months at Tottenham Hotspur and now feels completely at home at the club.
Few centre-backs have made as positive an impact in their first Premier League season as Van de Ven.
Despite his relative lack of experience, the 23-year-old has hardly put a foot wrong since arriving at the club and has won plenty of admirers with his composure and his electric pace.
The Dutchman is already widely recognised as one of the best in England and Spurs fans are understandably excited by just how good he can become over the next few years.
Micky Van de Ven feels at home at Spurs
While Tottenham’s season has had plenty of ups and downs, Van de Ven insisted that he now feels like he is very much part of the Spurs family.
The centre-back told the club’s official website: “I’m really enjoying it. The Club and the people here are amazing. London as well is an amazing place and I really like spending time in the city.
“When I first arrived, everybody was so sweet and welcomed me with open arms. They were really attentive and helped me with anything I needed which helped me settle in so fast.
“All my teammates are top guys; everybody gets on really well. Even though we’re from different countries, it doesn’t feel like that because it really feels like a family. I feel at home here.”
Van de Ven confessed that he made up his mind about signing for the club as soon as he spoke to Ange Postecoglou last summer and revealed that playing in the Australian system has proven invaluable for his development so far.
He added: “I had a good meeting with Ange, we knew the interest from Spurs and it was good to speak to the gaffer. His vision on football, I liked it, to play out from the back, to play offensive football with a lot of possession. The way he spoke to me and the trust he gave me in the meeting really convinced me.
“I think he’s a top manager. He’s really clear in what he wants and sticks to his principles. What makes him special is that he knows what he wants and what is best for his teams, so he keeps pushing us more and more which is important.
“I like to play out from the back. Sometimes you need to play with risk in the build-up under pressure, but he gives us a calmness and trust to play like this is. He wants us to keep pushing to play in that way, to keep calm and keep playing from the back and I enjoy that.
“Obviously playing with the high defensive line doesn’t matter to me playing with the space in behind because I back my speed. I like to play with the high line because it means we can press higher up the field to encourage more offensive football and that’s what I enjoy the most.
“Even if we have an off game, we can bounce back to what we have to do because there is a clear focus. He’s been really good for this group. He’s like a father figure who is so nice to everybody, but he pushes us hard when we have to get down to business.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Van de Ven will only get better as he gets more experience under his belt and matures as a footballer. Sky is the limit for the Dutchman and his partnership with Romero already has the makings of one of the best centre-back pairing in the world.
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