Spurs Centre-Back Van de Ven Shares Shock At Ange Postecoglou Dismissal

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last season at the helm.

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 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start 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 season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

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

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"