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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, 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.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

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

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

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

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable 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 solutions to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we should change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"