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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season at the helm.

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

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style 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 secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times 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 need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"