🔗 Share this article

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he guided the team to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

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

"He was a fantastic 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 after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, 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 Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

"Initially with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"