James Maddison was full of praise for his Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Micky van de Ven prior to yesterday’s match against Aston Villa.
Both players were named in Ange Postecoglou’s starting eleven for the 4-0 win against Aston Villa, a result which could prove to be significant in the race for a Premier League top four finish and securing Champions League qualification.
Van de Ven was arguably Tottenham’s best performer in the opening half of the match at Villa Park, having once again shown his raw pace to help bail Cristian Romero out of trouble after Ollie Watkins had beaten the Argentine to a header to race in behind.
Tottenham wait for news on van de Ven’s hamstring injury
Frustratingly for the Dutchman, he suffered another hamstring issue and was forced off in the 49th minute to be replaced by January signing Radu Dragusin.
James Maddison is a fan of Micky van de Ven
Fortunately, van van Ven’s exit did not come at a high cost because Maddison, Brendan Johnson, Heung-min Son, and Timo Werner all scored goals while Dragusin filled in admirably at the defense.
In a joint interview with the Tottenham first squad before the match, Maddison discussed van de Ven and said he understood why Ange Postecoglou wanted to buy him this summer.
“It’s not surprising to me that the gaffer really wanted him in the summer,” he said on the Sky Sports YouTube channel. just because we now understand Ange’s preferred style of play and are gradually becoming more familiar with his system. Given that we play an aggressive line, I can understand why he was drawn to Micky.
“His pace is frightening really, like you see some of the recovery runs against Palace, it’s just out of this world at times. The sheer pace and physicality he has, and to go with that a ball playing centre-half, they’re hard to find and normally expensive. He’s just another level in terms of pace and power.”
Ange Postecoglou’s risk-taking style of play has been aided by Van de Ven’s speed, as the former Wolfsburg defender can swiftly gain ground to snuff out any balls delivered in behind the back four.
His hamstring injury appeared at first to be less severe than the one he sustained against Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this season.
Radu Dragusin’s skill at glancing back offered a glimmer of hope, particularly when he was instructed to face his own goal in response to Villa’s attempt to play from behind.
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