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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

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

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on 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 brought a trophy to the club," he added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

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

"At one point Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"