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

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

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

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"