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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

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

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

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

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"