Tottenham Hotspur managed to finally get a win over the line on Saturday afternoon, scraping past the worst team in the Premier League, Wolves, to snap a winless streak since 2025 and give themselves a glimmer of hope in this relegation fight.
Although this 1-0 win was a positive, it is far from a guarantee of safety for Spurs, who remain in the relegation places after West Ham's crucial victory over Everton. And though Spurs did notch a clean sheet, star center back Micky van de Ven can't use this to give himself a pat on his back.
With Cristian Romero injured for the rest of the season and James Maddison still working his way back from injury, Van de Ven is now the de facto leader of this team. And it is a role he has struggled with previously every time the other key leaders in this squad have gone down.
Micky van de Ven needs to be a leader
While Rodrigo Bentancur's return does help ease some of the pressure off the Dutchman, Van de Ven isn't some young prospect anymore, and he is expected to be the main leader of the defense. He has never been that in his career, and with Tottenham Hotspur teetering on the brink of relegation, that fatal flaw has been picked apart so much more.
Even against lowly Wolves, Micky van de Ven was not one of the true standout performers of the match. He was more decent than great against the worst team in the Premier League. He can win possession and run, but he just doesn't read the game, stay proactive, or put his body on the line. Kevin Danso was a bigger standout than him, and even on the ball, Van de Ven doesn't offer that same extra bit of quality to build the play up that Cristian Romero did.
Beating Wolves is nice, but Tottenham are going to need more from Van de Ven after this one, especially since more will be asked of him by the likes of Aston Villa and a more formidable relegation foe - one that is likely now very safe - in Leeds United.
Van de Ven has been one of the flops of the season in the Premier League, and though he may be linked to Real Madrid and Barcelona, he has yet to show the big character of a player destined for Europe's elite. This is a big, big opportunity for Van de Ven to prove the narrative wrong and do just that, because failure to be that leader and elite CB will likely be one of the things that sends Spurs tumbling to their doom in the EFL Championship.