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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is 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 strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"