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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. 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 unbelievable football."

"However, managers study everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the manager and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"