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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere 16 days after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like 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 added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to get out."

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