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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

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

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have 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 said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"