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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a just 16 days after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

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

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap 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 won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 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 revealed he and defensive partner Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. 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 system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"However, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"