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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

"Later, 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 arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers study everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and said we should change some things and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"