Spurs Defender Micky van de Ven Shares Surprise Over Ange Postecoglou Sacking

Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

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

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

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

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success 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 games, and the team's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"