"Last season was a stressful season, unacceptable from our side, so to leave all of that behind and go into the new season fresh means a lot," he said.
Reflecting on pre-season preparation in Australia following a 2-0 victory over Auckland FC, Van de Ven indicated that the primary objective remains securing a return to European competition.
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"Spurs is a team that needs to play Europe every year, so obviously the Europe spots is what we're going to aim for," he said.
He praised De Zerbi's emphasis on possession and aggressive attacking play during intensive training sessions.
"The last couple of weeks of last season, you saw he brought a lot of passion into our group, a lot of mentality-wise and passion-wise onto the pitch," Van de Ven said.
He added that the manager's tactical philosophy aligns closely with his own personal style.
"He started to play a lot with the ball, because he loves to be on the ball, loves to play the football he wants to play.
And that's also something I really enjoy," he said.
Van de Ven praised the squad's progress during the extended pre-season work in Australia.
"The feeling of the team is really good.
The guys who have come in are unbelievable as well, they fit well into the group," he said.
He set a personal baseline for consistency throughout the grueling league schedule.
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"Personally I just want to stay fit all season, play a lot of games and be important for the team," Van de Ven concluded.
