Micky van de Ven did something this season which the entire Manchester City squad combined couldn’t match

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven was able to do something this season that the whole Manchester City squad was unable to match combined.

The 2023/24 season is now in the books for Tottenham who capped off their first campaign under Ange Postecoglou in the Australian’s hometown.

A post-season friendly against Newcastle United in Melbourne saw Tottenham’s campaign come to an end after securing Europa League football on Sunday.

It’s been a season of improvement at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium under Postecoglou who has brought in several signings which have provided immediate improvement.

Perhaps the most influential of all the signings made is centre-back Micky van de Ven who has been a revelation in defence.

The Dutchman has already become the Premier League’s fastest ever recorded player and now he has outperformed the entire Manchester City squad combined in one specific metric.

• READ MORE: Tottenham outcast says he’s happy to try new position to earn minutes under Ange Postecoglou

Micky van de Ven continues to prove his importance at Tottenham

Having signed in the summer from Wolfsburg for a fee of £43m, Spurs look to have secured one of the signings of the season in Van de Ven.

The Dutchman has been able to rack up 27 appearances in the Premier League alone despite suffering from two hamstring injuries.

And his importance to the squad can be seen through Tottenham’s record without the 23-year-old having failed to win six of the 10 games he’s missed through injury.

• READ MORE: Get to know Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven, from his career stats to his top speed

With the season now complete, Van de Ven was able to provide Tottenham with four last-man tackles in the Premier League.

To put that into context, that is more than all of the combined players in each of these five sides:

• Manchester City
• Fulham
• Brighton
• Wolves
• Luton Town

And that figure looks even more impressive when it is considered he missed around a quarter of the campaign as a result of the hamstring injuries he picked up.

Micky van de Ven has transformed the way Spurs can defend

Going into the season with Cristian Romero as the only outstanding centre-back at the club, Postecoglou had some work to do over the summer window.

Along with some other smart additions to the squad, the Australian nailed the signing of Van de Ven who has transformed the Spurs backline.

Pairing with Romero, Van de Ven has offered Spurs with blistering pace at the back which can allow Postecoglou to implement a high line.

This can be seen through the statistic above with the 23-year-old providing more last-man tackles than five entire Premier League sides.

However, his biggest strength has also proven to be his biggest weakness with hamstring injuries clearly a major concern.

Thankfully Radu Dragusin has shown himself to be an impressive addition to the squad in recent weeks ahead of what is going to be a busy 2024/25 season.