🔗 Share this article

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

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

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"