Micky van de Ven has revealed the instructions he and Cristian Romero gave to Ange Postecoglou, which may have helped Tottenham Hotspur win the Europa League.
There is no manager in football quite like Ange Postecoglou, as he showed when he was in charge of Tottenham Hotspur.
The Australian’s attacking style of play can be entertaining to watch, but it also leaves his teams vulnerable in defence.
However, Spurs were noticeably more cautious in the latter stages of the Europa League last season. This was especially true in the final, as the team did a lot of defending in their own half to seal a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
Micky van de Ven reveals what he and Cristian Romero told Ange Postecoglou
Micky van de Ven captained Tottenham for the first time this season and it seems he was already displaying his leadership qualities when Postecoglou was in charge.
According to the defender, he and Romero had to convince their former manager to play more defensive when they had the lead against Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final.
Van de Ven told The Overlap: “Me and Cuti Romero were only playing the Europa League games last season because in the Premier League games he [Postecoglou] kept us out and rested us because he wanted to win the Europa League.
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“At one point, we just walked up to the gaffer and said that we need to change some things and play more defensive sometimes. We played away at Frankfurt and were 1-0 up, and we can’t keep attacking, we just need to come back and have a low block and make sure we get the three points.”
Postecoglou could have shut down the comments of his defensive duo. However, he listened to their request and even put them in charge of making sure the whole team adapted accordingly.
“We sat with him and he agreed with us on some things and he told us that he expected us two guys to sort this on the pitch – to make sure that this is something everybody knows and to speak to everybody on the pitch,” van de Ven continued.
“He said to me and Cuti personally that we need to make sure the other guys listen to us, that we have a reputation in the team and everyone respects us, so make sure the guys follow what we say on the pitch. So, Cuti and I were just screaming at everyone.”
He added: “We had to speak to Ange because we had no plan B in game.”
“When we were getting further in the Europa League, sometimes we would sit down with him and say, ‘We need to adapt sometimes’.
“That wasn’t only with him – that was also with his assistant and other coaches.”
Van de Ven and Romero’s advice paid off for Tottenham
Spurs looked a more balanced side in Europe compared with domestic matches and it seems their centre-back pairing are the reason why this was the case.
It goes to show that van de Ven and Cristian Romero are not only useful as players, but as leaders who can be influential in the dressing room.
Thomas Frank named both defenders in his leadership team and while not all his decisions have been correct, nobody can argue with that one.