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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to victory in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign at the helm.

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

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches study everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"At one point 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 responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"