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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure 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 the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents 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 manager and said we need to change some things and play 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 sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"