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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

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

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers study everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"