TIM SHERWOOD BLASTS TOTTENHAM’S NEW SUMMER SIGNING MICKY VAN DE VEN

Tim Sherwood has been critical of Tottenham Hotspur’s new summer signing Micky van de Ven by describing him as being ‘wooden’.

The 22-year-old made his debut for Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham on Sunday when they recorded a 2-2 draw at Brentford.

Micky van de Ven initially started the game alongside goalscorer Cristian Romero, but he had to go off after 15 minutes because of a concussion, so it meant that the Dutchman had a new centre-back partner in Davinson Sanchez.

The ball-playing defender wasn’t exactly allowed to settle in, but despite coming through that, former Spurs boss Sherwood raised question marks over the player and is hoping that he is proven wrong, as he told Premier League Productions (14/08/23 at 2:45 pm).

Well, Sherwood has been here before when being critical of Pedro Porro following his arrival in January – at the time, the Spurs wing-back hit back at the Englishman.

The former Blackburn captain ripped into Porro on his debut and was proven to be wrong and the same scenario might rear its ugly head again.

“It’s not about individuals at centre-half, it’s about partnerships,” said Sherwood. “I hope van de Ven is the answer.

“To me, he looks a bit wooden. He is very quick. 6ft5. I am just saying what I see. I don’t know a lot about him and, hopefully, he is a lot better than I think.

“He is very wooden on the ball. Slow on the turn. Very quick in a straight line. And, hopefully, Romero and him could be the partnership that they need.”

Van de Ven will thrive at Tottenham

Postecoglou’s new style was clear to see on day one and it does require his centre-backs to be quick because there will be a number of one v ones, as well as having the ability to play out from the back.

Tottenham’s new boy, on paper, does exactly what Postecoglou needs, it’s just a case of being patient with the player and he will cook.

Plus, even if there are a few hiccups along the way, patience is needed because there is no point going back to the likes of Eric Dier or Davinson Sanchez who simply aren’t good enough.