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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was replaced 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 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined 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 opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end 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 won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"