Spurs Centre-Back Micky van de Ven Shares Shock Over Postecoglou Dismissal

Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on 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

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"