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

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

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

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

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"