Tottenham captain Micky van de Ven has made a bold statement despite the fact that the Lilywhites have gone six hours of Premier League football without a goal.
From the way Spurs started Saturday’s game against Everton, it was clear the players were highly motivated to send a message and silence their doubters.
However, the wind appeared to go out of their sails at the half-hour mark after they had failed to convert their dominant start into a goal.
Concerningly for Tottenham fans, Everton looked extremely comfortable in the second-half, with the home side failing to test Jordan Pickford on many occasions, with some jeers being heard at the stadium at the full-time whistle.
Micky van de Ven insists Tottenham are creating chances
However, Van de Ven does not feel the need to obsess too much about Tottenham’s goal-less start to the season.
The centre-back insisted that the Lilywhites are creating chances and that things will shift for the team once they start making better decisions in the final third.
The Tottenham captain told The Sun’s Lloyd Canfield: “We need to score a goal. I wouldn’t say it’s a problem, because we are creating a lot of chances. Of course we need to score, but I don’t want to call it a problem.
“I think there is hope (for Spurs fans), obviously, when we play games like this and we are on top of the opposition most of the time. We need to make better decisions in the final third and start scoring goals – I think there are a lot of positives to take from this game.”
He added: “I don’t think it’s a mental thing, we need to review things again and see what we can do better in the final third as a group, to make even bigger opportunities to score goals.
“We’ve had some great opportunities and I think more of them can come if we make the right choices at the right times.”
Numbers suggest Spurs are not creating enough chances
While Van de Ven is right in saying that finishing and the decision-making in the final third have been an issue for Tottenham, it is not accurate to say that Spurs have been creating many chances.
In fact, Tottenham have one of the lowest total xG numbers after the first four games of the Premier League season.
While De Zerbi’s men have impressed with their build-up play from the back, Spurs fans will be concerned by the lack of creativity and decisiveness in and around the box.