Tottenham Defender Van de Ven Expresses Shock At Postecoglou Sacking

Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable 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 unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"