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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, 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," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

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

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and suggested we need to adjust tactically and be 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, make sure everybody knows.'"