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

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided the team to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

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

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking 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 secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"However, managers study everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we should change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"