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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

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

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss 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 have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"