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

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier 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 Spurs currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, 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. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"At one point Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure 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.'"