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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

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

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

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"However, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"