Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven is better than Arsenal star centre-back William Saliba, according to former Spurs man Jamie O’Hara.
Van de Ven is taking the plaudits at the moment after his superb assist for Spurs in their 3-0 win away to Manchester United at the weekend, with the talented Dutchman running almost the length of the pitch with great pace and power before putting the ball on a plate for Brennan Johnson for that opening goal at Old Trafford.
Still, it would perhaps be seen as a bit of a jump to now be calling Van de Ven one of the best centre-backs in the world, and better than Arsenal’s Saliba, who has been an absolute rock and superbly consistent for the Gunners in the last couple of years.
O’Hara seems pretty confident, however, that Van de Ven is the superior player, as per his analysis in talkSPORT’s YouTube video below…
Van de Ven better than Saliba?
Van de Ven is certainly a fine player, but at the moment you’d surely find very few who’d agree that he’s better than Saliba.
Arsenal fans certainly wouldn’t swap the Frenchman for anybody, with him and Gabriel Magalhaes turning Mikel Arteta’s team into one of the most solid and resolute outfits in Europe in recent times.
That said, Spurs can of course be very happy with Van de Ven’s contribution, with the 23-year-old looking better and better all the time and like someone who can help THFC get back to being more serious contenders for the top four again.
Van de Ven impressed at previous club Wolfsburg and it seems like shrewd business by Tottenham to get him in ahead of other top European teams, who may well be kicking themselves now that they didn’t spot him earlier and make a bigger effort to get him themselves.
Ohara writes about his emotions not facts. The numbers say who is better and this debate isn’t even necessary.
For 2 years in a row, Arsenal’s defence has stood tall.