🔗 Share this article Tottenham Defender Van de Ven Expresses Shock Over Ange Postecoglou Dismissal Micky van de Ven joined Tottenham from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2023. Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Postecoglou. The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, securing the club'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 Thomas 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 at the weekend. "He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast. "I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he added. "Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'" Tottenham beat Man United 1-0 in the Europa League final in Bilbao. The Rise and Fall Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches. Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points. In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches. Tactical Concerns Revealed Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach. "I liked the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained. "At the beginning with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football." "However, coaches study everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out." "On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"