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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

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

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents figured out 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 get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"