Netherlands defender Micky van de Ven is expecting a tough battle against an England team he says “play defensively” in Wednesday’s Euro 2024 semi-final.
Van de Ven had an outstanding first year at Tottenham following his move from Wolfsburg – becoming a key part of Ange Postecoglou’s first-choice XI and forming a strong central defensive partnership with Cristian Romero.
That has not earned him a starting spot with the Netherlands, though, with Van de Ven having to settle for a regular place among the substitutes.
The 23-year-old will most likely be on the bench again for the game with England in Dortmund as the Dutch take on a team that has drawn widespread criticism for their performances in Germany.
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Van de Ven told a news conference this morning: “If you see the quality of the players from both teams, I think you can expect that the level and the rhythm of the game will be really high.
“Hopefully, it’s us that will have more of the ball than England so that it is England who do the running, but I expect a high intensity game.
“We understand they have taken a lot of flak from the English media but they are in the semi-finals. That says all it needs to about the English team. I think they play defensively but we will go and analyse them properly tonight, but what I can say is they have a lot of quality.”
Celebrating captain’s birthday on #EURO2024! 🧡🎉#NothingLikeOranje | @VirgilvDijk pic.twitter.com/a5cmuKh4Hq
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) July 8, 2024
Gakpo thriving in a wide-left role
Van de Ven was joined in front of the media by Cody Gakpo, the Liverpool forward who has scored a joint tournament-best three goals so far.
Gakpo played mostly down the middle for Liverpool last season but, under Ronald Koeman, has been operating on the left side of a front three and thrived.
He said: “I was a left wing before [moving to Liverpool] and that’s always been my preference but over the last one and a half years, the coach needed me to play somewhere else and I tried to do my best at it.
“I learnt a lot from the manager [Jurgen Klopp] and that progressed me a lot as a person and as a player. I’m very happy with the move I made.”
