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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to victory in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, 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 don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to change some things 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.'"