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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

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

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager 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.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"However, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to change some things and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"