Van de Ven on his amazing run and Tottenham’s desire to win a trophy this season | OneFootball

Micky Van de Van is loving life under Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.

The big Dutch defender, man of the match in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Everton on Saturday, embodies what Postecoglou is trying to do at Spurs – build a team of versatile players who are prepared to play off the cuff and try out new stuff.

Van de Ven’s 80 yard run from box to box to set up Heung Min Son for Tottenham’s fourth goal against Everton showed just what he can do. His first season in the Premier League proved he was the fastest player in England, a commanding defender, clever reader of the game and smart finisher, with a couple of spectacular goals under his belt.

He also has a selfless team ethic that kicked in when he decided to pass to Son, the club’s leading scorer and a deadly finisher. Asked what was going on in his mind when he set off from the edge of his own penalty area, the 23-year-old said: “I was thinking I’ll keep running, hopefully nobody can stop me, and nothing happende. -one did. I knew Sonny was on my left so I kept driving and driving until I got to the centre back and then at the right moment I played it for Sonny to finish.”

Was he tempted to shoot? “No. Sonny was there and I knew he would finish it off.”

It was Van de Ven’s name the crowd sang in celebration, though. “They loved that moment, yes. When I was dribbling with the ball you could sense everyone in the stadium was getting really hyped and I was like ‘nah, now I’m going through’ and then it all went off.”

Postecoglou is far from rigid in his tactics and actively encourages this sort of off-the-cuff stuff from his players. “Ange gives us the possibility to do this, to dribble. He never likes the centre-backs to stay behind (the lines). He trusts us, like everybody else in the team, to do what we want to do. It is really important for us that we feel that trust and have the confidence to do it.”

Critics predicted Postecoglou’s patient, possession-based game – Angeball, as it is known – would be found out in his second season, and last Monday’s frustrating 1-1 draw at Leicester suggested an inability to break down a stubborn defence despite dominating and creating plenty of chances.

But the smart Aussie is always looking for new avenues in attack and is prepared to mix it up. They still whip in numerous crosses from both wings, but now look to play more though the middle, try the odd long-ball over the top, and even in Van de Ven’s case, transition quickly from defence into attack.

All four goals had different origins. Yves Bissouma, back from a club-imposed suspension for off-field misdemeanours, scored the first goal after excellent teamwork, Son’s first came from relentless pressing to pounce on a Pickford error, and Cristian Romero headed home a James Maddison corner to make it 3-0.

Postecoglou wants his team to be more flexible and multi-dimensional. “It’s what we want to evolve into. We had Kulusevski playing in midfield today, Sonny scored a goal through the middle and another when he went out wide.

“We looked a threat from varied areas and even set pieces. If we’re going to turn compelling performances into consistent results, you need to have more than one avenue of attack. I thought we showed that today.”

Van de Ven agrees. “Yes, like Ange said, we can play down the sides, through the middle and two or three balls from Cuti (Romero) to Maddison were really dangerous.

“We need to reach another level this season – last year we were fifth, so it was a good season, but we want more. We want to win a trophy, that’s clear.”