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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a mere 16 days after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for 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's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates 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 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we should change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"