Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham despite winning the Europa League after a disappointing Premier League season where the club finished 17th and a Spurs star has given their verdict
Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven has declared the decision to sack Ange Postecoglou 'a strange choice' when considering the side's Europa League success. The Australian coach was given his marching orders after two years in charge, just 16 days on from breaking Spurs' 17-year wait for a trophy.
Thomas Frank is expected to be named as Postecoglou's successor and could be appointed before the weekend. The Lilywhites are set to pay £10million to prise the Danish coach away from Brentford.
And one of Frank's early tasks will be to win over a squad who had a good relationship with Postecoglou. A number of Spurs players expressed how grateful they were to the former Celtic coach for helping them to success.
Van de Ven was coy over the prospect of Frank's arrival but admitted that the club's Premier League performances were unacceptable. The Dutch defender suggested that blame for that did not lie solely at Postecoglou's door however.
“That was ultimately a choice from the club," he told Voetbal Zone. "We, as players, have little to say about that.
"Of course, he is the first coach in a long time who has won a trophy has had success at Spurs. So if you look at it that way, it is of course a strange choice.
“It is a choice from the club about which we have little to say, so we will see what happens now. Of course, we see some rumours about the Brentford head coach [Frank], who it will probably be. So yes, a choice from the club about which we have little to say.
“I think many of the players got along with [Postecoglou] well. And of course, what I say, he is the first coach who has brought success to Spurs in a long time.
"That also shows that he has a certain quality. That also means that he has a winning mentality. 100 per cent.
"From that, you would of course say that it is strange that he was fired. What we have shown in the Premier League is, of course, unacceptable. That would, of course, have multiple factors, but that would not only have been the coach."
Van de Ven finished his 2024/25 season with a goalscoring display for the Netherlands. The Spurs star scored in the 92nd minute against Malta to round off an 8-0 victory in which Memphis Depay, Virgil van Dijk, Xavi Simons, Donyell Malen and Noa Lang all got on the scoresheet.