As he prepares to step out in a Europa League final, Micky van de Ven said he never took it seriously when people told him he would be "trophyless" for the rest of his career if he joined Tottenham.
The young Dutch defender flew out with Spurs to Bilbao on Monday afternoon as Ange Postecoglou's side continue their preparations for the showpiece final against Manchester United at the Estadio San Mamés on Wednesday night. For Van de Ven, the night in Spain represents a chance just 18 months or so into his time at Tottenham to prove his critics wrong.
A fourth victory against Ruben Amorim's side this campaign would bring Spurs' first trophy in 17 years and their first piece of European silverware in 41 years.
"I think it will be a big thing of course because everybody knows that when you join Tottenham, you get the words through of 'Ah, you're not going to win a trophy', that you will be trophyless the rest of your career," said Van de Ven. "All the guys that came up here were like 'we're going to change something about this club'.
"It was the gaffer and it was the whole squad who said 'we’re going to come here and change something'. For us, it's the job now to make this happen in Bilbao."
On who those who were claiming he would be trophyless, he explained: "Yeah, but it’s these people on social media, you know? These banter people that you don't take really serious. No it didn’t play on my mind, not even a little bit."
It's not the first time Van de Ven will have had to prove people wrong in his career, with doubts from some coaches when he was a youngster whether he would even have a career in football. At Volendam, he didn't progress from the Under-19s to the Under-21s because the first team staff at the time felt he was too short and did not stand out as a player.
It was only with the arrival of Wim Jonk that Van de Ven was plucked from the academy and thrust into the first team because the new coach was bewildered by the decision to let him languish at youth level.
When he looks back now, the 24-year-old admits: "Yeah, that’s crazy to be honest. At Volendam there were people who didn't have the trust in me and now I am standing here. I think I proved them wrong.
"To be honest I think there are a lot of players in their careers who get doubts from multiple people. It depends a bit on how late in your career you are getting doubts, of course. I was getting doubts when I was 17, 18 years old. Then you might have to think about something different. Then it's all to yourself and the people around you to keep pushing.
"That's what Cuti [Romero] probably did [as well when people doubted him] and that's what I did, and now we are both standing here, and Cuti won a World Cup. I am now standing now in a European final. It's a beautiful thing."
Van de Ven added: "I still use [the doubts to motivate me], but to be honest it was my dad, my mum and my sister who were the ones who kept pushing me, because even when you're younger, every year you get a new gaffer. It's strange, of course.
"Then the people around you are the ones you are close with. I was in that situation with my dad, my mum and my sister who kept me pushing until the point I am at now. Even now, these days after a game they help me. They're like you could do this better or that better, they are still the people who help me."
Van de Ven's family will be in Bilbao this week, including his father Marcel who is a big television personality back in the Netherlands and has penned a bestselling autobiography. Van de Ven Snr was an undercover agent responsible for fighting major crimes before moving into the world of television as the lead detective on Dutch series "Hunted", where he and other experts hunt down contestants on the run.
Marcel managed to juggle his career as an agent and later his TV work with watching his son playing football even at his busiest times.
"Every game he was there, even when I was younger. You have to ask him how he managed that!" said Van de Ven. "Midweek, most of the time he was gone because he had a job to do and couldn’t tell us everything about it, but at the weekend when we had to play, the most important part, he was always there.
"Literally up to today, he’s everywhere. Every home game, every away game, he wants to be everywhere. He always tries to be there."
Another father figure for the Tottenham players is Postecoglou and while a trophy would deliver a blow to those people who doubted the Dutch defender, Van de Ven believes that his under-fire head coach has also already proved his own critics wrong.
"We have all been standing behind the gaffer since day one, since he joined here. He showed his quality, he brought us to a European final," said the defender. "Of course, he’s getting a lot of doubt from the media and we see these things, but I think he proved all you guys wrong and we’re standing in a European final, so hopefully we can lift the trophy. Not only for us, but also for him."
Van de Ven is looking forward to playing alongside Cristian Romero in Wednesday's final in a partnership that often sees the duo complement each other's skill sets on the pitch.
"You can see that Cuti of course is an unbelievable player. We just feel each other in the game. If he does something, I know how I need to cover him, how I can help him. On the other side it’s the same - when I have the ball, he knows how to cover me. He knows how to help in every situation," said Van de Ven.
"That is just the feeling we have grown into each other. From the beginning I also felt a strong connection with him, but the more games you play together the more you start feeling each other and know each other's qualities, and where you can help each other. It’s an unbelievable connection that I have with him now."
A fellow Dutch defender will be at the other end of the pitch in Matthijs de Ligt. Around 20 months older than Van de Ven, the United defender has been a high profile player since he was a teenager and the Spurs man has a good relationship with his international team-mate even if he's mostly been watching him from afar.
"I am good with him. To be honest I have never really played with him. At the Euros we were together but we both didn’t play. He is an unbelievable defender, of course," he said. "Look at his career, look at how he is doing at every top club he has been to - he was captain at Ajax when he was 18. Goes to Juventus, does a good job there. Goes to Bayern. At every top club he has been playing. He is doing an unbelievable job and is an unbelievable player. Hopefully he is available for the final so we can play against each other.
"When I was younger, he was [an inspiration]. At his age, what he was showing, it was unbelievable. When I was a younger kid and didn't play professionally, of course you were looking at him and seeing he was showing some quality.
"The first thing that pops up in my head is the game against Tottenham, to be honest. When I was in the stadium [in 2019]. He was playing that game. These games I can remember are more from the Champions League when Ajax went to the semi-final. He was playing unbelievable. When you're a young kid you're looking up at him - captain at 18 years old, doing an unbelievable job. Then you think 'I want to be like him'."
What does Van de Ven remember of the dramatic finale to that semi-final in Amsterdam?
"I was an Ajax fan at this time. So I was not really happy. That’s football, no?" he admitted.
Now the centre-back has the chance to create his own piece of history for Tottenham and go one step further than the club did six years ago in that European competition.
"We all know we play for a big club. This club deserves trophies. That’s the truth," he said. "If you look at the quality in the squad, we deserve a trophy. It has been a tough season but we can end this perfectly by winning a prize."
