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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last season at the helm.

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

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

"I don't know 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 continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"