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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

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

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

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

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"