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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

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

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate 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 break," he said.

"Initially with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"