22-year-old Spurs man has broken into Postecoglou’s plans much sooner than expected

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky Van de Ven has already played a lot more minutes than the club initially expected.

That’s according to journalist Lyall Thomas, speaking on the Last Word on Spurs YouTube channel.

There’s plenty of positivity around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium right now.

Ange Postecoglou has quickly implemented a style of play that could not be more different from what was served up last season.

Tottenham are suddenly playing with much more freedom and their players look to be enjoying their football.

The arrival of James Maddison in midfield has been a game-changer, while Destiny Udogie looks brilliant at left-back.

Thomas has suggested that Micky Van de Ven wasn’t expected to play this many minutes so soon into his Tottenham career.

Given the issues Spurs have had at centre-back, there was always going to be an opportunity to break into the team straight away.

He’s looked comfortable immediately and despite Tottenham still wanting another defender, it’s hard to see him losing his place any time soon.

Van de Ven playing more minutes than expected

Speaking about the young Dutchman, Thomas said: “If you look at the players who have come into the team straight away and how they’ve performed, I mean again it’s been part of the impressive start.

“I mean [Micky] Van de Ven in particular, at 19 whatever he is, 21 [22], he’s come in and taken to the level immediately.

“I know that Tottenham’s intention with him was to bring him in to develop as a development player really, someone to bring in and not necessarily play straight away.

“But he’s been thrown in there and he looks like he’s been playing in the Premier League for a couple of seasons I think.

“He reads the game really well, he’s obviously rapid, he’s obviously really quick and he looks like he’s absolutely loving it straight away.

“That’s a huge plus for Tottenham.”

Van de Ven will hope to play a lot more minutes this season, although it will be interesting to see if he retains his place against Fulham tomorrow.

Postecoglou hasn’t really rotated this season but may use the Carabao Cup as the perfect opportunity to do so.

However, given Spurs aren’t in Europe, there will be an argument that they should be taking the domestic cups as seriously as possible.

It’s certainly not the easiest draw, but they should have enough quality to overcome Marco Silva’s side.