Francisco Vega/Getty Images
Tottenham Hotspur star Micky van de Ven has revealed that his former Volendam boss Wim Jonk gave him the belief and confidence to become the player he is today.
Van de Ven came through the Volendam academy before moving to German side Wolfsburg and joining Tottenham last season.
The Spurs centre-back played under Jonk during his time at Volendam and the 57-year-old tactician has joined Ronald Koeman’s coaching staff in the Dutch national team.
Van de Ven highlighted that Jonk gave him his first professional contract and revealed that the Dutch coach provided him with belief and confidence that he can become a good player.
The Tottenham star stated that during his early years at Volendam he was sloppy and was attempting dribbles a lot and revealed that Jonk gave him clever tricks to improve his game.
“He brought me to the first team at FC Volendam and gave me my first professional contract”, Van de Ven told Dutch broadcaster ESPN (via Voetbal Primeur).
“He gave me the belief and confidence that I could really go far.”
“When you come into Volendam’s first team as a young boy, you are still sloppy and wild. I wanted to dribble a lot.
“He gave me clever tricks and that worked out well in the end.”
Van de Ven is currently with the Dutch national team and is preparing for their Nations League games against Hungary and Germany.