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

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 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 defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. 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 unbelievable football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I 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 agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"