Sublime Tottenham star names outstanding Liverpool talent who he longs to be as good as
Guglielmo Vicario and Micky van de Ven of Tottenham
Tottenham star Micky van de Ven admits he faces a serious task in trying to retain his place in the Netherlands national squad – but has explained why a top Liverpool star is the man he looks up and needs to usurp if he is to become a regular.
Van de Ven arrived in the Premier League over the summer, joining Tottenham in an initial £34.8m (€40m) deal from Wolfsburg as Ange Postecoglou and Co nipped in ahead of Liverpool to seal the move. Little was known about Van de Ven prior to his move to England, but the 22-year-old has more than justified the sizeable fee Spurs paid out with some commanding displays at the heart of their defence so far.
Indeed, Van de Ven has been an ever present for Postecoglou this season, with the Dutchman forming a solid looking partnership alongside the rejuvenated Cristian Romero at centre-half.
But it is Van de Ven who has most caught the eye, with the Dutchman so good that Liverpool’s failure to sign him has already been brought up and labelled a failure by a baffled former Arsenal man.
Despite his sublime performances so far, Van de Ven continues to be overlooked by his country. Indeed, while the Netherlands are no longer quite the footballing force they once were, they are blessed with some really strong options in central defence.
Van de Ven has, however, just last month made his full debut for his national side when he came on as a 80th-minute substitute for Nathan Ake against France.
Indeed, alongside Ake, Oranje boast the likes of Matthijs De Ligt, Stefan De Vrij and Sven Botman as options, all of whom are battling it out for a place in Ronald Koeman’s plans.
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Van de Ven keen to emulate Liverpool star Van Dijk
Of course, the quintet are all merely battling it out to play alongside undisputed first-choice pick Virgil van Dijk, with the Liverpool man both the captain of his country and now in possession of 62 caps.
However, at 32, time may not be on Van Dijk’s side for much longer and there have been signs in recent times that his qualities may be ever-so-lightly on the decline.
Nonetheless, Van de Ven knows Van Dijk – recently incredibly labelled the “best that has ever lived in his position” – remains the standard bearer and a player he very much looks up to and would love to emulate as one of the Premier League’s all-time greats.
Speaking to the Premier League’s YouTube channel, Van de Ven spoke of the battle he faces to become a regular for the Netherlands.
“To be honest, it’s difficult now to play for the national team because there are so many good centre-backs. We are the best now in the Netherlands, the level of the centre-backs, everyone is playing well, it’s really difficult,” Van de Ven said.
“I can learn from them, from Van Dijk, De Ligt, Ake, you see how they play every week in the Premier League, it’s really impressive.”
Van de Ven will need to be at his best again on Monday night as Tottenham bid to extend their unbeaten start in the Premier League when they host Chelsea.
Spurs have won eight and drawn two so far to sit top of the league going into the weekend’s latest round of games. Despite Tottenham’s fine form, though, former Arsenal man Paul Merson is picking out a surprise result in the game.
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