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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he led the team to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"Initially with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"However, coaches analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure 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, make sure everybody knows.'"