Tottenham Centre-Back Van de Ven Shares Shock At Ange Postecoglou Sacking

Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the gaffer and suggested we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"