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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has revealed 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 led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last season at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he added.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run 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 won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian 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 Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and said we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"