Tottenham Hotspur looked like they were bound for relegation from the Premier League, but the decision to hire Roberto De Zerbi could not have gone more swimmingly for the Lilywhites. The Italian manager stepped in and immediately changed the fortunes of the club, saving them from going down while getting many players, including apparent winter transfer flop Conor Gallagher, to improve and play to their best level.
But no single player's in season turn around under De Zerbi was more profound or more important than that of center back Micky van de Ven's. The young man looked totally unmotivated and even on the brink of a transfer out, losing his head with awful challenges and basic errors that were gifting opponents points in the table.
After De Zerbi was hired, Van de Ven went back to being a lion, and his improvement became all the more important after his center back partner, team captain Cristian Romero, went down with a season ending injury as the latest victim of the injury crisis.
Roberto De Zerbi saved Micky van de Ven
Micky van de Ven now looks like a guy who is all in on staying at Tottenham despite the transfer rumors involving Barcelona and Real Madrid, and at another press conference, this time for the Dutch national team, VDV effused more praise on his new club coach for saving him from spiraling mentally.
The former Wolfsburg defender said of Roberto De Zerbi's impact, via The Spurs Watch, "I didn't even go out at one point. I thought do I actually deserve to do fun things? Maybe you're looking at it in the extreme, but you want to turn things around at all costs. De Zerbi literally said to me: 'I'm going to need you very badly in this period and I'm going to have to rely on you a lot.' I had to become a leader even more, even though I am still young. When we were safe? It literally felt like I was a hundred kilos lighter. All the stress was gone right away."
It is amazing how much everyone still underrates the mental aspect of the game and of coaching, and what Micky van de Ven is saying clearly reflects well on De Zerbi in terms of his ability to lead young men, get the most out of them, relate to them, and motivate them positively.
Although his volatile personality led many Tottenham fans to approach his hiring with trepidation, the results have told a different story after RDZ saved Spurs from a historic low point. And hearing Van de Ven talk about how De Zerbi made him finally be more of a leader and melt away his stress despite the pressure really proves that De Zerbi has the mental side, just as Spurs were hoping he would.
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