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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 Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach 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 getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

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

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"