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

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last season at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, 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 don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"However, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

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