Micky Van de Ven hails culture change in club under “passionate” De Zerbi

It’s been a rough two seasons for Micky Van de Ven ad Tottenham Hotspur. After a couple of relegation scares, he, the club and the fans are hoping to get back to competing in the Premier League.

The Tottenham transformation

There are reasons to believe in North London. It’s been a long couple of seasons, but for the first time in a long time there is some optimism for Spurs fans coming into this campaign. They have splashed some serious cash over the last few months, and their coaches vision is starting to create a sense of belief in the dressing room.

Speaking from Tottenham’s preseason tour in Sydney, the center back told BBC Sport, “It’s really good that you can see the club has made some changes,” the centre-back told BBC Sport during the club’s pre-season tour in Australia. “You can see the club has a new ambition. It’s something that’s really important for players who have been here for a long time. Last season was a stressful season, unacceptable from our side, so to leave all of that behind and go into the new season fresh means a lot.”

It was the second straight season in which Tottenham finished 17th in the league. Institutional instability and constant coaching changes have made for a couple of nightmare campaigns. This year they are hoping things are different under manager, Roberto De Zerbi. He came at the end of last season, after Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor came on went in the Tottenham dugout. De Zerbi led Spurs in the final stretch of the season, earning 11 of 21 points and avoiding what would have been a devastating drop to the Championship.

Less than a month until kickoff

Van de Ven knows what to expect from his coach after spending the final two months of the season under the Italian. He expects the players and the fans to enjoy the attacking style of play that De Zerbi is instilling in the group during preseason. “It’s going to be different compared to the manager we had last season,” Van de Ven explained. “It’s going to be more with the ball, I think, more about playing football. I think it’s also going to be more enjoyable for people to watch because we’ll be playing offensive football. You can see he [De Zerbi] has brought a lot of passion into our group, a lot in terms of mentality and passion on the pitch. It is something we needed because everybody was a little bit down. He brings a lot of good energy and, from pre-season, we have really had the time to bring his football into the team. That’s really enjoyable.”

De Zerbi will also have some new flashy toys to play with this season. Tottenham have made a massive splash in the transfer market, bringing in Matheus Fernandes from West Ham for $113 million and Sandro Tonali for $133 million, along with a handful of lower profile signings before preseason began, and Van de Ven sees everyone buying into the system. “The feeling of the team is really good, to be honest,” the defender added. “I have really enjoyed working with him [De Zerbi]. That’s what we have been doing in this pre-season, and the guys who are coming in have been unbelievable as well. They have fit in well to the group.”

Tottenham are currently in their Sydney preseason tour as they continue to prepare for their first full season under De Zerbi. They have five more preseason matches before opening up the Premier League campaign against Brentford on the 22nd of August.

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