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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a just 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 Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last season at the helm.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

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

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting 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 solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure 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.'"