🔗 Share this article Tottenham Centre-Back Micky van de Ven Expresses Surprise Over Ange Postecoglou Sacking Micky van de Ven joined Tottenham from Wolfsburg in August 2023. Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou. Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he guided the team to a win in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years. Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final season in charge. He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday. "He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast. "I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added. "Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'" Tottenham defeated Manchester United 1-0 in May's final in Bilbao. Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games. However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points. In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures. Tactical Concerns Revealed While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach. "I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained. "At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football." "But, coaches study everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to resolve it." "On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the gaffer 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 expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"