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

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

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

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, managers analyse everything and people figured out 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."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"