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

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on a 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 the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, 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 joined Tottenham from Scottish champions 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.

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

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"However, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

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