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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.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season in charge.

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

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting 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.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"