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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory 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 domestic 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 off-season, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender 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 is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

"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

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

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

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. 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, managers study everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero approached the manager and suggested we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure 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, make sure everybody knows.'"