Micky van de Ven is 'really happy' that Ange Postecoglou said he always wins trophies in his second season so the Tottenham players could help him continue that trend.
Postecoglou was asked earlier in the season about usually winning something in his second campaign at a club, to which he replied that he always wins in his second one after joining a team. That answer brought plenty of scorn from rival fans and pundits, especially as Spurs struggled in the Premier League with injuries and inconsistent performances.
However, Postecoglou can keep using that line because on Wednesday night he became only the third manger in the club's history to win a European title as Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao in the Europa League final.
“The gaffer said this and I think he proved he’s done it," said Van de Ven. "He won again something in his second year and everyone who was doubting him, everybody that was doubting us, we all proved them wrong this year.
“Of course it was a really tough season. In the league we didn’t perform well, it was really poor from us. I can’t say anything else but that. But in Europe, we did so well.
"To be honest I’m really happy he said he always wins something in his second year. We made sure he can keep saying this. We’re happy for him and happy for the team."
The 24-year-old Dutch defender was excellent against United and made a crucial acrobatic clearance off his own goal line from Rasmus Hojlund's header late in the game and football.london asked Van de Ven what was going through his head in that moment and how much the landing in the goal clearly hurt.
“I can tell you it was painful! Vic came out, the ball bounced on his head. I don’t know how to be honest. The ball came to Hojlund and I was like 'I need to go to the goal line because if he heads over Vic, that’s going to be a goal'," said the centre-back.
“I saw the ball coming and to be honest the ball was high and I was like 'I don’t know how I’m going to do this', but I just tried everything I could and I saved it. It was all worth it because we kept the clean sheet. Some back issues afterwards but it’s all worth it!"
So what is it like to end 17 years of waiting at Tottenham for a trophy?
"An unbelievable feeling, of course. In the league we didn’t do really well, everybody was doubting us, but I think we all proved them wrong," said Van de Ven. "Today we’re here, we’re lifting a trophy and have made some history, so of course that’s an unbelievable feeling.
"Every time we played in Europe, we showed our quality, we showed how we can play. The gaffer had a big role in this, he kept believing in us, the whole staff kept believing in us. He just made sure we stayed together and as a group we stayed together. We kept believing that we could create history with this group and we did it."
Van de Ven was asked whether he believes this group of Tottenham players can build on this first trophy under Postecoglou with Champions League football now on the table next season and a place in the UEFA Super Cup in August.
"Yeah of course we want to build on it. To be honest now we just want to celebrate and enjoy this moment," he said. “Of course we want to do something special also next year. Every year you want to be successful and achieve something. But I really haven’t thought about it to be honest. Now we want to celebrate and we want to do beautiful stuff."
With three key creative players missing from Tottenham's midfield in Bilbao in James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall, Postecoglou set up his side in a compact, industrious 4-3-3.
As they did in the previous knockout games on the road in the Europa League, Spurs took a more pragmatic approach to the game
"Of course we have a plan beforehand but everybody changed. You can say what you expect from the game but the game is always going to be different," said the Dutchman. "We wanted to play our own game and you saw in the first half we created some chances, they created some chances.
"The game was 50/50, we scored our goal, and in the second half, of course, they pressed us more backwards. I think that’s normal when you’re 1-0 up and they needed to score. I think we defended it really well.
“I have to think about the header from Shaw and Hojlund. But I think we defended it really well. We kept a clean sheet like in the last couple of games in Europe.
“We proved to everybody we are a really good side. We played so well. Of course the AZ Alkmaar away game was a tough game but all the other games we played so well and showed everybody what we could do and we did the same today in the final."
Van de Ven had explained ahead of the final that when he joined Tottenham, 'banter people' on social media had told him that he was choosing to be trophy-less and he was asked whether this victory would silence such people.
"Probably they will continue but I don’t care anymore. We proved them wrong. We won a trophy so they can say whatever they want," said the young defender. "We lifted a trophy and that’s the most important for us and the fans and for the club."