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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to 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 after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like 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 with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"