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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on 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 brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

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

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and people knew 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."

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