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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"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. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I texted to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches 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 didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"