Tottenham Centre-Back Van de Ven Shares Shock At Postecoglou Dismissal

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the team's season tailed off, 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, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure 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, make sure everybody knows.'"