MICKY VAN DE VEN (£3.5m) is hugely popular among Dream Team managers ahead of the new season.
At the time of writing, he’s the second-most selected defender in the game, with an ownership of 17.7%.
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Until very recently the Tottenham centre-back was the outright most popular player in his position but Liverpool’s Jeremie Frimpong (£5m) has claimed top spot in the wake of his (accidental) goal in the Community Shield.
MOST POPULAR DREAM TEAM DEFENDERS (% OWNERSHIP)
- 18.3% – Jeremie Frimpong (£5m)
- 17.7% – Micky van de Ven (£3.5m)
- 16.7% – Marc Cucurella (£4.5m)
- 13.7% – Virgil van Dijk (£5.5m)
- 13.1% – Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.5m)
- 13% – Myles Lewis-Skelly (£4m)
- 10.5% – William Saliba (£5m)
- 8.5% – Reece James (£4m)
- 7.9% – Kyle Walker (£2.5m)
- 7.7% – Josko Gvardiol (£5.5m)
Here at Dream Team HQ we like Van de Ven just as much as the next man.
He’s lightning fast and a very capable defender; who could forget his acrobatic goal-line clearance in the Europa League final?
But the Dutchman’s immense popularity is a curiosity.
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For all his obvious attributes, Van de Ven has not earned all that many Dream Team points since his arrival on English shores in the summer of 2023.
A succession of hamstring injuries have limited him to just 40 league appearances out of a possible 76.
This wouldn’t be such a concern if he racked up returns for fun when fit but the truth is his numbers are moderate at best.
Last season, Van de Ven averaged four points-per-game when available.
For perspective, that puts him just below Michael Keane (£2.5m), Joel Veltman (£3m) and Emmanuel Agbadou (£3m).
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On paper, Van de Ven and Cristian Romero (£3.5m) is a formidable centre-back pairing but the duo have found clean sheets harder to come than most expected.
That’s not to blame them directly, it takes a team effort to repel the opposition, but clean sheets are the primary currency for Dream Team defenders and so such facts must be noted.
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The 24-year-old doesn’t rank highly for attacking threat either, he’s scored seven goals throughout his whole club career.
Perhaps Dream Team bosses are expecting Spurs to be tighter at the back this season.
They couldn’t afford to be much looser without entering a relegation battle.
It’s entirely feasible that regular playing time for Van de Ven does result in fewer goals conceded but Thomas Frank is hardly the shut-up-shop type.
In 2024/25, only Southampton allowed their opponents more shots than his Brentford side — that doesn’t exactly scream clean sheets.
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Maybe we’re overthinking it.
It might simply be the case that Spurs are at home to Burnley in Gameweek 1 and Van de Ven is relatively affordable at £3.5m.
And that’s fair enough but a quick look forward reveals that the Europa League holders are due to face Manchester City at the Etihad in Gameweek 2.
Gaffers keen on defensive returns should try to avoid selecting players directly up against a striker of Erling Haaland’s (£7.5m) calibre.
We’re more than happy to be proved wrong by Van de Ven, he’s certainly a good enough player, but starting the season as the second-most selected defender?
It just doesn’t add up.
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