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

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed 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 secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure 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.'"