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Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss 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 was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on 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 Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender believes the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"However, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure 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, ensure everybody knows.'"