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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told a 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 the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked 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 counter-attack," he explained.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times 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 walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"