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Tottenham Defender Micky van de Ven Shares Surprise Over Postecoglou Sacking
Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.
However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.
He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.
"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.
"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.
"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"
Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle
Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.
Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.
The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.
Tactical Concerns Revealed
Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.
"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he said.
"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."
"However, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."
"On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"
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