Tottenham Defender Van de Ven Shares Surprise At Postecoglou Dismissal

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"