Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven says he found Ange Postecoglou’s dismissal ‘strange’ given the Australian proved his ‘winning mentality’ by ending the club’s 17-year wait for a trophy.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy decided to bring Postecoglou’s tenure to an abrupt halt last Friday, just 16 days after the north London outfit edged out Manchester United in an all-English Europa League final in Bilbao.
The scrappy 1-0 victory secured Tottenham a place in the Champions League for the first time since the 2022/23 campaign and Postecoglou would no doubt have been looking forward to leading his side into Europe’s premier competition next season.
But Spurs’ woeful domestic campaign – their worst-ever in the Premier League – ultimately cost Postecoglou his job and the search is ramping up for his successor.
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has emerged as the overwhelming favourite to take over the reins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Spurs’ talks with Brentford are progressing at a pace.
It’s understood Tottenham will have to pay a compensation fee of £10million to get a deal over the line for the 51-year-old Dane.
Asked for his thoughts on Postecoglou’s sacking after the Netherlands’ 8-0 thrashing of Malta, Van de Van told Voetbal Zone: ‘That was ultimately a choice from the club.
‘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.’
Van de Ven admits it looks likely that Frank will be named as Postecoglou’s replacement in due course.
‘Of course, we see some rumours about the Brentford head coach, who it will probably be,’ he added.
‘So yes, a choice from the club about which we have little to say.’
The Dutch centre-back believes Tottenham players must accept much of the responsibility for their 17th-placed finish which led to Postecoglou being fired.
‘I think many of the players got along with him well and, of course, what I say is that he is the first coach who has brought success to Spurs in a long time,’ he continued.
‘That also shows that he has a certain quality. It 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 been a factor, but that was not only down to the coach.’
The leading candidate to replace Postecoglou, Frank, is said to be eager to push through a switch to north London and has reportedly told the club to make Bryan Mbeumo their first summer signing.
But Mbeumo is also attracting strong interest from Manchester United this summer, with the Red Devils lodging a second offer worth more than £60m for the Cameroon forward in recent days.
Should Spurs have kept Ange Postecoglou?
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Yes
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No
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