Roberto De Zerbi’s system at Tottenham is heavily reliant on their centre-backs to create chances for his side, with Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke leading the Premier League in some key stats.Jan Paul van Hecke’s best attribute is arguably his passing, and the former Brighton man has demonstrated over the last few matches exactly why De Zerbi was keen to bring him to Spurs.The Tottenham boss has also transformed Van de Ven’s game, as he promised he would do in the summer.De Zerbi indicated back in August he wants the Dutchman to control the tempo from the back and play like a midfielder. The Italian said: “I want Micky as a midfielder at the back: with the ball, with the personality to control the situation.”His wish is now coming true, with Van de Ven being among the 91st percentile in the Premier League for line-breaking passes, which is a metric he was only in the 13th percentile for last season.Stat25/26 percentile26/27 percentileChangeLine-breaking passes13th91st+78Passes into final third28th84th+56Receptions facing goal52nd92nd+40Positioning mistakes8th95th+87Carries completed89th30th-59Photo by Michael Regan/Getty ImagesTottenham duo Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven leading key stats in Gameweek 9As per Squawka, no players across the Premier League completed more passes in Gameweek 9 than Spurs’ two centre-backs.Van Hecke tops the tree with 143 completed passes against Crystal Palace, while Van de Ven comes in second place with 123 passes.Even more remarkably, the two Spurs centre-backs also had the most passes into the final third across the Premier League, with Van Hecke making 62 passes into the final third and Van de Ven making 53.In fact, all of the top seven players for most passes into the final third in Gameweek 9 are Spurs players, while Mathys Tel also features in the top 10, coming in at ninth place.Most final 1/3 passes completed in the Premier League this weekend. 🙌 https://t.co/gNc4q5ucqS— Squawka (@Squawka) November 3, 2026Spurs have upgraded at centre-back despite losing Cristian Romero and Kevin DansoMany were sceptical about whether Tottenham would be able to replace Cristian Romero’s quality on the ball, but Van Hecke has not only matched the Argentine, but has arguably bettered it.While the summer signing from Brighton may not be as good a defender as Romero, he is arguably one of the best playmaking centre-backs in the Premier League.Spurs now also have suitable backups, with Marcos Senesi also demonstrating that he is an excellent passer, although he lacks Van de Ven’s recovery pace, which may cost Tottenham defensively when playing against a high line.There was also a lot of consternation among the fan base when Spurs replaced Kevin Danso with Tosin Adaribayo, but the former Chelsea man is arguably better suited to De Zerbi’s system due to his quality on the ball.So far, De Zerbi’s talent identification in midfield and defence has proven to be spot on. Spurs fans will be hoping that is also the case in attack, and both Savio and Omar Marmoush will start delivering goals and assists with time.READ MORE: Tottenham’s A Team vs B Team proves Roberto De Zerbi finally has squad depthThe post Crazy stat has eight Tottenham Hotspur players in the top 10 for Gameweek 9 appeared first on Spurs Web.