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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season at the helm.

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

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on a 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 continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

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

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"