James Maddison praises ‘special’ Spurs teammate but admits he’d never heard of him before
After another star performance and a crucial goal in the win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend, James Maddison has lavished praise on his Tottenham...
The post James Maddison praises ‘special’ Spurs teammate but admits he’d never heard of him before appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.
After another star performance and a crucial goal in the win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend, James Maddison has lavished praise on his Tottenham Hotspur teammate, Micky van de Ven, but admitted he didn’t know who he was when he first signed for the club.
Both Maddison and Micky van de Ven arrived at Tottenham last summer, as part of Ange Postecoglou‘s big revolution in North London.
The Dutch centre-half has forged an impeccable partnership alongside Cristian Romero in the heart of the Spurs defence, offering calm and composure alongside the Argentine defender.
Van de Ven’s impact is clear to see, with the 22-year-old winning 13 of the 20 games he has completed for Spurs this season, and losing just one of those matches.
His thunderous strike at the weekend put Spurs back in front against Forest, and showed that van de Ven is capable of more than just speedy recovery play at the back.
Spurs were smart to sign Micky van de Ven
Speaking to Express and Star after the latest Spurs win, Maddison had plenty to say about van de Ven, including an admission that he hadn’t heard of the young defender before he joined Spurs.
He said: “Shooting is not his forte if you see him in training every day but we’ll take them ones that go flying into the top corner. He is a special player, he is top-level and credit to the recruitment team because I had never heard of him before we signed him.
“The joke is on me really because a player of that calibre, I should probably have heard of in Europe. A brilliant player, a brilliant trainer, a brilliant lad and a really good guy.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I had a good feeling about van de Ven when we were looking at him last summer, and I was delighted we made the move to sign him, but I never expected him to be quite as influential and impressive as he has been this season. It’s scary to think that he is only going to get better.
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