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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided the team to a win in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for 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's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"