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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play 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 counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers 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 didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"