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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

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

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

"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message 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 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like 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 exceptional football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to get out."

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