🔗 Share this article

Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere 16 days after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style 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 at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero approached the manager and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"