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

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win 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 domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

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

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"