When you think of Micky van de Ven, what immediately springs to mind?
The roadrunner-like recoveries? That driving run and assist for Brennan Johnson at Old Trafford? The storming past Thomas Frank after a cowardly home defeat to Chelsea? How about the goal-line clearance in Bilbao?
We seemingly have a distinct image of our captain at the start of his fourth season in Lilywhite. We know exactly what he's about, and the type of defender he is.
Or so we thought...
Van de Ven has emerged as a prolific passer under Roberto De Zerbi
It's fair to say that Van de Ven wasn't particularly fond of Frank, despite the Dane helping out his scoring tally. There was a point last autumn when we were talking about the Dutchman as a potential £100m+ asset amid transfer interest from Liverpool, but his form nosedived in the new year and worsened once Igor Tudor took the reins.
That's perhaps why he's been so effusive in his praise of De Zerbi, who saved the club from the abyss. Van de Ven spoke about the "positive flow" the Italian introduced down the stretch last season, and tactical evolution was always on the agenda at the start of his first full campaign at the helm.
And part of that evolution has seen Van de Ven play a drastically different role in possession.
According to data collected by Gradient Sports and Enya Collins (via @JimOhSoSpurs on X), Van de Ven sits inside the 91st percentile of all Premier League centre-backs for line-breaking passes and the 84th for passes into the final third, compared to 13th and 28th in the respective metrics last season. He's also carrying the ball less, ranking in the 30th percentile for carries completed, down from the 89th in 2025/26.
Van de Ven's first instinct with the ball was often to drive into green grass. Occasionally, that would return a special sequence, such as the aforementioned drive at Old Trafford and memorable goal against Copenhagen. But it'd also get him into trouble when he encountered congested zones, allowing teams to break into the space he'd vacated.
De Zerbi has seemingly coached that instinct out of him, as evidenced by the data. Aided by the Italian's sophisticated ideals in possession, Van de Ven is suddenly far more confident as a passer. It certainly helps when you have a midfielder like Mateus Fernandes performing as superbly as he did at Stamford Bridge.
This evolution will not only help the Dutchman develop into a far better rounded centre-back, his hamstrings will also be grateful forthe reduction of lung-busting, all-or-nothing carries from back to front.
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