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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign at the helm.

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

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed 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 counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"