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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

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

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

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team'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 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"