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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

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

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

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes 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 play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"