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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

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

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"However, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"