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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

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

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"