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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 ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

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

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, 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 joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study 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 solutions to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"