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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was replaced 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 Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

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

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"