Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks 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 finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last season at the helm.
He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.
"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he added.
"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"
The Rise and Fall
Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.
However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.
The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.
Lacking a Plan B
Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.
"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.
"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."
"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."
"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and said we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"
