🔗 Share this article Tottenham Centre-Back Micky van de Ven Shares Surprise Over Postecoglou Sacking Micky van de Ven signed for the North London club from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2023. Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou. The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to a win in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years. However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm. He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday. "He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told a podcast. "I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he continued. "Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'" Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 in May's final in Bilbao. The Rise and Fall The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches. Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points. In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches. Tactical Concerns Revealed Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager. "I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like 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 said. "Initially with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football." "But, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out." "On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and said we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"