Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven expressed his surprise over the club's decision to sack former manager Ange Postecoglou. Despite leading the team to a significant victory in the Europa League final, Postecoglou's tenure ended abruptly due to underperformance in the Premier League.
Postecoglou, an Australian native, had a two-year stint with Tottenham that saw him guide the club to its first major trophy in 17 years - The Europa League title. However, this European success was not reflected domestically as Tottenham finished 17th place in Postecoglou's final season at helm.
Van de Ven shared his sentiments on The Overlap podcast saying "He was a really good manager. I still really like him." This unexpected turn of events came just 16 days after their triumphant win in Europe.
Tottenham defender, Micky van de Ven, said:
"He was a really good manager. I still really like him,"
"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware for Tottenham.
"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this'."
Transition and current performance
Postecoglou was replaced by Thomas Frank, former Brentford boss during summer. However, Spurs' performance has been less than stellar under new management with them currently sitting at 11th place on the table with only 22 points from 16 matches. Their recent defeat against Nottingham Forest further highlighted their struggles.
Postecoglou joined Tottenham ahead of the 2023-24 season replacing Antonio Conte and initially enjoyed success thanks to his attacking style of play which earned them an impressive haul of 26 points from their opening ten league matches. However, this unbeaten run came crashing down as they suffered four defeats within five matches causing their season trajectory to tail off significantly. They missed out on Champions League qualification by just two points and won merely eleven out of thirty-eight league matches during following season.
Despite appreciating Postcoglu’s attacking style of play, Van de Ven, a Netherlands international, felt that Tottenham lacked a "plan B". He revealed that he and teammate Cristian Romero had discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.
Micky van de Ven added:
"I liked the offensive play [under Postecoglou] 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. At the beginning [under Postecoglou], no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football.
"But managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out. At one point [me and Romero] walked up to the gaffer and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows."
The sacking of Ange Postecoglou was unexpected for many, including players like Micky van de Ven. Despite his initial success and popular attacking style of play, the lack of consistent performance in the Premier League led to his downfall. As Tottenham continues under new management, fans and players alike will be hoping for an upturn in their fortunes.
