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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last 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 from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham 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 strange how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"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 don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and said we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure 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.'"