Micky van de Ven has been in Germany for almost a month now as part of the Netherlands’ involvement in Euro 2024, but has singled out star forward, Cody Gakpo, as one of his toughest opponents to stop.
After the Netherlands clawed their way back from being 1-0 down to Turkey on Saturday, it meant that Micky van de Ven and his nation would have a semi-final showdown with England after Bukayo Saka’s long-range effort took the Three Lions game to penalties, allowing England to secure their semi-final spot.
23-year-old, Micky van de Ven, has only been handed twenty-minute features off of the bench for his national team so far this tournament, with Stefan De Vrij and Van Dijk being preferred centrally to the Tottenham man. (FotMob)
However, his impressive cameos have suggested that Micky may be handed a start soon which would see him up against Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka.
Speaking to the media, Van De Ven jested about the battle asking, ‘Who’s faster? Saka or me? If you look at the data, you already know the answer’. (Algemeen Dagblad)
The Dutch media quizzed Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo about his defensive counterpart on the team, who was sat alongside him in the press conference.
The current competition’s joint-top scorer explained: ‘Micky is the fastest in the Premier League. He’s tough to play against. You come across him again and again. Strong, fast. Good defensively. He’s doing well again now’.
Van De Ven was similarly positive about Gakpo analysing: ‘Cody is such a good player in terms of quality. One-on-one, it’s very difficult to stop that guy. He’s always threatening. He’s scoring his goals now, in the Premier League as well’.
The pair are more than familiar with each other, playing each other twice last season in the Premier League.
Gakpo was on the scoresheet both times, although the potential six points were split evenly across the season between Liverpool and Spurs.
Spurs Web Opinion
Although Van De Ven in my opinion is one of Tottenham’s most important players, reflected by him completing a clean sweep of the team’s end of season awards, as is the way with international football,
I’m hoping on Wednesday, the Dutchman will be on the wrong side of the result.
The post Report: Micky van de Ven praises ‘difficult to stop’ Liverpool player appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.
