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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told 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 the club," he added.

"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

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable 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 unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study 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 Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"