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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the club'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 position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start was halted with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, 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

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like 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 used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"