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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last season in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"