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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"However, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"