Troy Deeney calls Tottenham star 'just a joke' after display in Man Utd destruction

Troy Deeney has heaped praise on Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven after his monstrous display against Manchester United.

Van de Ven, who Spurs paid £43million to sign last year, was instrumental in Tottenham's resounding 3-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday, most markedly creating their opening goal. The Dutch centre-back dispossessed Marcus Rashford inside his own half before driving 60 yards and beating four other United players to set up Brennan Johnson for a tap-in with just three minutes on the clock.

Ange Postecoglou's team went on to dominate the match, with Van de Ven doing his job defensively by sniffing out multiple United attacks thanks to his speed and physicality. That left former Premier League striker Deeney in awe of his performance, naming the ex-Wolfsburg star in his team of the week.

"This is the second time he's been in my team of the week already," Deeney wrote in his BBC Sport column. "Defensively he's just a joke, I'm so impressed.

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"His pace gets a lot of plaudits but the way he defends, the way he sees situations and covers his full-backs is excellent. And obviously another assist to add to a clean sheet in the win at Manchester United, so perfect for him."

Van de Ven was certainly worthy of his place in Deeney's XI, with his clean sheet boosted by him being the most accurate passer (97 per cent) to play 45 minutes or more on Sunday afternoon. The Netherlands international also made one block, one clearance and four recoveries, cementing his solid display.

It's no surprise to Tottenham boss Postecoglou, who waxed lyrical about Van de Ven in August after he provided a similar assist against Everton. "Outstanding," the Spurs manager said. "He's a pretty special footballer.

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"Last year when we had that back four up and running, we were a pretty compelling team, but we also know we can't just keep putting them out there."

Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood claims that United should've signed Van de Ven instead of compatriot Matthijs de Ligt, who's struggled since joining. Sherwood told Premier League Productions: "He (Erik ten Hag) talked about not having the personnel last year to play higher up the field, so we are going to have to defend deep, and then he signed De Ligt. Micky van de Ven should have been his signing to get them up the pitch."

Van de Ven and co's task will now be to help Tottenham build on their run of four successive victories, as they travel to face Hungarian side Ferencvaros on Thursday in the Europa League before a tricky trip to Brighton this Sunday. Prior to their winning run, Spurs had only won of their opening four games.

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