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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told 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 is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"However, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached 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 sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"