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

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season in charge.

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

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

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

"Later, 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 joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start 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 mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

"Initially with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

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