Spurs Centre-Back Van de Ven Shares Shock Over Postecoglou Sacking

Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the club's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and suggested we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"