🔗 Share this article

Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange 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, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

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

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

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

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

"But, managers study everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"