Tottenham: Conor Coady shares honest Micky van de Ven verdict after what he has seen
Micky van de Ven has been hailed as a signing of the season candidate by experienced Premier League defender Conor Coady.
The Netherlands international has more than justified his initial £34million outlay [BBC Sport] since arriving from Wolfsburg in August.
Van de Ven leads a number of metrics in the English top flight, including the title of being the fastest player in the whole English top flight.
How quick is Micky van de Ven?
As per the Premier League’s official website, Van de Ven is remarkable 0.45km/h quicker than next-fastest Chiedozie Ogbene of Luton Town.
That pace has come in handy on more than one occasion this season as it allows the Dutchman to quickly get back into position.
Away from his natural assets, Van de Ven also leads the entire division in terms of his passing accuracy with an incredible figure of 95 per cent.
Of the 1,064 passes the centre-back has attempted this season, 1,013 of them have been completed – so just 51 have gone astray [FBref].
Van de Ven does not just restrict himself to short passes, either, as he ranks seventh in the division for completed long balls (81.4 per cent).
Ange Postecoglou’s style of play at Tottenham is now well known, but it would not be possible if not for a player like Van de Ven at the back.
This is just a continuation of what Van de Ven showed at Wolfsburg, and ultimately led to his high-profile switch to North London last summer.
Indeed, he ranks in the top four per cent of all centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues for pass completion in the past year (92.5 per cent).
Not only have supporters been amazed by what the 22-year-old has brought to the Premier League, so to have his fellow professionals.
Coady, formerly of Wolves and Everton and now at Leicester City, told Premier League Productions: “I think he has been an outstanding signing.
“We were talking about a profile of a centre-back these days, but look at where the line is for Tottenham and he has that pace to get back.
“If you are going to play that way, and how Tottenham have recruited in terms of buying him, you mentioned before about signings of the season.
“He would be right up there. He really, really would. It’s unbelievable. He has been a fantastic signing for Tottenham.”
Tottenham did not have their finest of days in the 2-1 loss to Wolves last weekend, but even in that game Van de Ven’s quality was clear to see.
Tottenham fall to Wolves defeat
The defender, unsurprisingly, once again led the passing-accuracy charts among those to have started (98 per cent) [WhoScored].
No player on the field registered more interceptions (four), meanwhile, and he also completed one dribble for good measure.
In fact, his average of 0.73 successful take-ons per 90 minutes ranks him among the top three per cent of centre-backs in Europe’s elite leagues.
Van de Ven would not have been pleased with the manner of either of Wolves’ goals at the weekend, though, both of which were preventable.
Perhaps commanding the box a little more is the area the defender can improve upon to take the next step in his development.
His 1.4 aerials won per game, for example, is quite far behind the 2.1 Cristian Romero wins and 1.8 for versatile team-mate Ben Davies.
Should he manage to continue at this current trajectory, Spurs will not only have the best signing on their hands, but the best centre-back full stop.
In other Tottenham news, a player out on loan is now starting to turn heads with his performances.
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