Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.
The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.
Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.
He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.
"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.
"Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"
The Australian manager joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.
However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.
In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.
While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the coach.
"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.
"At the beginning with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."
"But, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."
"On one occasion me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"
