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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he led the team to victory in the European final, securing the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

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

"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

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

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure 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.'"