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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic 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 afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

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

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"