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

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic 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 Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"However, coaches study everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

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