Spurs defender Micky van de Ven broke the Premier League record for fastest speed; the center-back broke the 37 km/h barrier, joining Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker in a select group. This season, seven of the top 10 fastest times ever recorded have occurred.
In the 3-2 victory over Brentford last week, Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven broke the Premier League record for maximum speed. But who else is considered an outstanding speedster?
The center back’s ability to put on the brakes and bring down runners while defending his team’s high line has Spurs supporters giddy.
The 22-year-old outran Manchester City speed demon Kyle Walker to become the quickest player in Premier League history when he sprinted back to catch Lewis Keane-Potter, setting a new record of 37.38 km/h.
So far this season, only two players have broken the 37 km/h barrier: Pedro Neto of Wolves and Chiedozie Ogbene of Luton.
As a matter of fact, Van van Ven and Walker are the only players in Premier League history to surpass 37 km/h. The City full-back recorded a speed of 37.31 km/h against Everton in May of last year.
The top 100 speeds after the Premier League’s tracking data providers changed at the beginning of 2020–2021 are shown in the table below. To locate players and teams, utilize the scroll and search bars.
With Van de Ven, Ogbene, Neto, Dominik Szoboszlai, Dara O’Shea, Anthony Gordon, and Amadou Onana all recording top-10 all-time speed bursts, the standings indicate that this campaign may be the fastest ever.
There is a player on every Premier League team who has achieved a speed of over 34 km/h, most of them over 35 km/h. Naturally, attackers make up half of the team’s quickest players, but Ven de Ven is one of four center backs on the list.
For comparison, during a 100-meter sprint in 2009, Usain Bolt had a time of 44.72 km/h between the 60- and 80-meter marks. His average pace over the course of the race was 37.58 km.
Ange Postecoglou, the manager of Tottenham, commented on Micky van de Ven’s speed after the Spurs defender set a record for being the quickest player in Premier League history:From a physical standpoint, we were aware of what we were getting. He had exceptional quickness and recuperation skills. Football is more than just sprinting quickly, and you have to apply that skill appropriately.
“The way he has adjusted to playing in the Premier League and facing elite strikers each week has truly impressed me. For a young player in his first year of Premier League football, his ability to use that speed so well in his defensive job has been exceptional.
“Remember that he just spent one year in the Bundesliga prior to joining us; there is still a lot more of him to come. I’m pretty happy with how he’s developed to this point and made use of his advantages.”
When asked if he thinks Van de Ven would get hurt again with his speed, the Australian answered, “No, that’s not how you should look at it. He is playing this game.
“With elite athletes, injuries can happen, but he had an excellent rehabilitation program and hasn’t missed a beat since his return. He sustained the injury against Chelsea.
“Last week we pushed him to the maximum with such a short turnaround between Brentford and Everton, but he got through it okay and he’s good to go.”
