Tottenham Centre-Back Micky van de Ven Shares Surprise At Postecoglou Sacking

Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, securing the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss 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 don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and said we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"