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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"However, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point Romero and I approached the gaffer and suggested we need to change some things and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"