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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last season at the helm.

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

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. 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 was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the club's season tailed off, 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.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero approached the manager 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 want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"