Jermaine Jenas left in awe by the 22-year-old Tottenham star at Everton…..
Jermaine Jenas has now been having his say on a Tottenham Hotspur player that blew him away against Everton yesterday.
Whilst Ange Postecoglou’s team will have been disappointed to draw 2-2 late on at Goodison Park, there were still some top performances.
Richarlison will obviously steal the headlines back at his old club, deservedly so after two excellent finishes.
But it was a defender who really caught Jermaine Jenas’ eye when reviewing the game on the BBC’s Match of the Day.
As has often been the case for Spurs this season, they relied heavily on their centre-backs when playing a daringly high back line.
And when looking back on the draw against Everton, Jenas realised just how vital Micky van de Ven has become for Tottenham.
Jermaine Jenas blown away by Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven at Everton
Jenas praised van De Ven’s pace, as well as the timing of his tackles, paying homage to a ‘top performance’ all round.
The pundit said: “It’s interesting listening to his interview there, because I don’t think Spurs were at their best today at all.
“I think from a midfield point of view they were off it, and they relied heavily on the performance of someone like van de Ven and Romero.
“He’s just so quick [van de Ven], and it’s so impressive. They play such a high line Spurs, and they put a lot of pressure on the defenders to do a lot of this [recovery runs].
“But what I like about him, when he needs to dive in, he dives in, but he times his tackles very well.
“But when he needs to stand up, he stands up. I want you to take another look at this in a minute, because there’s a massive gap here.
“We’re talking about one of the quickest forwards by the way, Jack Harrison is not slow, and he eats up the ground on him like it’s nothing.
“It’s just a really impressive performance from him today, commanding, ‘I’m going to take this ball’, just a real top performance by a top, top player.”
Of course, following that Everton display, Jenas would surely be quick to mention how much Tottenham missed their Dutch defender.
Van de Ven is already such a crucial part of Postecoglou’s spine in this new era, a player who rarely puts a foot wrong.
Cristian Romero can often still endure a questionable moment or two, but his centre-back partner is often flawless.
That being said, Joe Cole thinks another Spurs player has surpassed all expectations this season.
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