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Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a lowly 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, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to get out."

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