Dutch pundit Valentijn Driessen says Micky van de Ven has a clear weakness, urging Ronald Koeman to drop the Tottenham star from the team.
Almost all of Van de Ven’s 12 caps for the Netherlands have come at left-back, which speaks to the world-class options that Koeman has in central defence.
Virgil van Dijk partnered Jan Paul van Hecke, who is incidentally a target for Tottenham, at centre-back in the 1-1 draw against Poland, while the Liverpool man played alongside Stefan de Vrij in the heart of the Dutch defence against Lithuania.
While the Tottenham Hotspur man played at left-back against the Poles, Nathan Ake got the nod to start against Lithuania, but Driessen does not believe either of those players should be playing at full-back.
Calls to drop Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven from Netherlands XI
Driessen has said that while he is a fan of Van de Ven and the attributes he brings, the 24-year-old is not a natural at left-back.
He named Burnley’s summer signing Quilindschy Hartman and Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber as better fits for that role.
When asked if the Spurs defender is the best option for left-back, Driessen said (via Soccer News): “The ultimate left back plays at Burnley. That’s Hartman. He’s the best left back, but he’ll have a few months to get back to his old level.
“Then I think he’s the best left back on the Dutch national team. Jurriën Timber played there too. If you don’t play him in the centre, you can put him at left back. Van de Ven has a lot of energy, speed, and strength. He can run really fast to the byline, and then he doesn’t know what to do. That’s a problem.”
Why Thomas Frank may not like to see Van de Ven at left-back
Thomas Frank has said he has drafted a plan to ensure Tottenham do not have an injury crisis this season, and one would imagine that involves lowering the training load and minutes for certain players.
Van de Ven is one of the players whose workload Frank and his staff will have to carefully consider, given the former Wolfsburg man’s history of hamstring injuries.
That is why there may be some concerns at Spurs that he is being used at left-back for his national side, with the position requiring a lot more sprints up and down the field than the centre-back role.
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