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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification 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 squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

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