Spurs Centre-Back Micky van de Ven Expresses Shock At Ange Postecoglou Sacking

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on a 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 was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"