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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

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

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in 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.'"