Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.
However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.
He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.
"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.
"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.
"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad 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, taking over from 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 fine start was halted with four losses in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.
The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.
Tactical Concerns Revealed
While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back 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 our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.
"At the beginning with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."
"However, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."
"At one point Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"
