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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

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

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

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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 Van de Ven thinks the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents 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 solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"