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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

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

"He is a fantastic 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 after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"However, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

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