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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

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

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham 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 backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"However, managers study 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 answers to resolve it."

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