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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, 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," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," 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 joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

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

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"