Spurs Defender Van de Ven Expresses Surprise At Postecoglou Sacking

Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"However, managers study everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the manager and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"