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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Ange 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 team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender 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 is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"