Jan Paul van Hecke is more than Roberto De Zerbi bargained for
Everyone knew that on paper, Jan Paul van Hecke had one of the most tantalizing matchups on paper for Tottenham Hotspur against local rivals Crystal Palace, and that matchup somehow became even easier just 13 minutes into the game after Jean-Philippe Mateta's horrendous challenge on Micky van de Ven - and the follow through on Van Hecke himself, too - led to a deserved red card that left Palace short handed and essentially screwed.
But the degree of dominance Van Hecke had was staggering. He completed about 95 percent of an astounding 151 pass attempts, completely controlling the game for Tottenham. Even against a 10 man team that has been poorly coached and unable to pressure defenders or be on the ball this season, what Van Hecke did was truly impressive.
He was impervious on the ball, unchallenged defensively, and impossible to ignore on the screen. Every time you looked at the screen and watched Tottenham, there was Van Hecke at the heart of it all, and as expected, he took every advantage possible to push up the pitch more aggressively and score or assist.
Jan Paul van Hecke is even better than expected
Jan Paul van Hecke sealed the game late with a headed goal on the ground to rebound his own headed effort that Dean Henderson brilliantly saved, and his two Premier League goals this season now lead the team - he has more than the ballyhooed forwards.
Plus, Van Hecke was creative with his passing, too, nabbing three key passes to create his own chances as part of the dominant Tottenham Hotspur collective effort. Van Hecke cost Tottenham a fair bit of money - and Luka Vuskovic, too - but for those who had slagged Spurs off and manager Roberto De Zerbi for picking his guy over the Croatian phenom, it is impossible to argue against Van Hecke being the better player immediately and obviously a perfect fit for how the Italian manager wants to play his football at N17.
Van Hecke showed the full extent of what he can do against Crystal Palace, and after a few successive weeks of brilliant displays on and off the ball, he really sealed the fact that he is an elite Premier League center back again, just as he looked to be at Brighton while working under De Zerbi. But now, he is even better, a more refined, athletic, and decisive player, and this outburst against Palace will fully rev up his motor. He looks like an even better player than what De Zerbi envisioned when he pushed to buy him from the Gulls.
