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Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach 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 secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"