An appreciation of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, Tottenham’s Europa League-winning rocks

Brennan Johnson scored Tottenham Hotspur’s winner in the Europa League final against Manchester United but it was a different moment most people were talking about afterwards.

In the 68th minute, Bruno Fernandes chipped a free kick into the box and it bounced awkwardly off the left shoulder of Guglielmo Vicario. Rasmus Hojlund headed the loose ball over Tottenham’s goalkeeper and it was looping into the net until Micky van de Ven produced an incredible piece of athleticism.

The 24-year-old defender sprang into the air and swung his right boot at the ball to prevent Hojlund from equalising.

The Netherlands international was basically horizontal at one stage.

(Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Van de Ven landed awkwardly on his back in the net and writhed around on the floor in pain for a few seconds but finished the game. It was a crucial contribution from a player who has struggled with a hamstring injury this season.

(Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Spurs had three shots, 27.7 per cent possession and completed 115 passes in their 1-0 win against United — all of those figures are the lowest Opta has on record by any team in a major European final since the 2009-10 season. They sacrificed the ball, which meant that their defence had to be impregnable.

Van de Ven’s clearance was iconic but his centre-back partner, Cristian Romero, won the player-of-the-match award. Romero has made a few high-profile errors this season, including losing Gabriel from a corner for the Brazilian’s goal in September’s defeat by Arsenal. Last month, he publicly flirted with a move to La Liga. None of that matters anymore.

With Son Heung-min on the bench, Romero captained Spurs in Bilbao and produced a peerless performance. Last week, Kevin Danso told a group of reporters, including The Athletic, that the Argentina international was “world class”.

“From the outside looking in, you’d think he’s very aggressive but he’s one of the calmest guys in the changing room,” Danso said. “Everybody at the club and anybody who watches football knows he’s a brilliant passer and a great defender. A defender needs that (aggressive) side to him to give the strikers a bit of fear, (thinking) ‘Oh, he could come in at any time’. He’s a great talent.

“He’s not the most vocal. That’s why I said he’s one of the calmest guys. There are different kinds of leadership and he leads by example by the way he plays.”

At full time, Romero was kicking the ball around in the centre-circle with his son, Valentino, while most of his team-mates were celebrating with the fans — Van de Ven jumped into the stands. This wholesome interaction, and Danso’s stories of his laid-back nature, contrast with his behaviour towards United’s strikers.

When Amad whipped a cross into the box in the 30th minute, Romero used his body cleverly to prevent Hojlund from shooting and was accidentally elbowed in the face. When Harry Maguire was deployed as an emergency striker and started throwing his body around, Romero pushed back. They clashed on multiple occasions, including when Maguire appealed for a penalty after grappling with Van de Ven. Romero initially protected his team-mate before Danso shoved Maguire away.

A couple of minutes later, Maguire was booked for a foul on Romero when they were challenging each other in the air. Romero has been guilty of getting wound up by opponents and recklessly charging into tackles during his time at Spurs. On Wednesday, he taunted Maguire but importantly stayed in control of his own emotions. The England international shoved Romero at full time and they had to be separated by members of each club’s staff.

Looking back on this wild season, one in which Spurs have won a trophy for the first time since 2008 but lost 21 league games, it feels like December’s defeat by Chelsea is the key turning point. Van de Ven and Romero came back from injury yet broke down and did not return to full fitness until March. Their absence triggered a collapse in form and they lost six of their next eight games.

Spurs hired external specialists to help them understand how to better manage Van de Ven’s body and his extreme speed. The defender insisted he was “feeling well body-wise” and said that “I want to play every game” before the second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

But Postecoglou carefully controlled their game time. They only registered 45 minutes each in the league between the quarter-final second leg against Frankfurt and the final. Everything rested on their shoulders. It felt like a risky move not keeping them sharp with competitive matches but all of Postecoglou’s decisions over recent months have been vindicated.

Last season, Van de Ven and Romero started together 25 times as Spurs finished fifth. Arsenal duo Gabriel and William Saliba and Everton’s James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite were the only combinations to start more games (both 34). That partnership was the bedrock of Tottenham’s encouraging first year under Postecoglou but they have only started together 11 times in the league this campaign.

The Athletic asked Van de Ven last week about his relationship with Romero. “We just feel each other in the game,” Van de Ven said. “If he does something, I know how to cover him. On the other side, it’s the same. He knows how to help in every situation. That is just the feeling we have grown into each other. From the beginning, I also felt a strong connection with him, but the more games you play together, the more you start feeling each other and know each other’s qualities, and where you can help each other. It’s an unbelievable connection that I have with him now.”

It is so much more than an unbelievable connection. Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen’s partnership was immense but they never won a trophy with Spurs. Van de Ven, a fan favourite from the moment he arrived in north London from Wolfsburg in July 2023, should look forward to having a statue of his ridiculous clearance built outside the stadium one day. Romero’s legacy is secured too.

They have completely different approaches. Van de Ven uses his speed to cut out counter-attacks while Romero can break lines with his passes and then produce a crunching tackle on an opponent. Together, they are a golden combination who missed too many games through injury but, when it mattered the most, they delivered.

(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

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