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

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

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

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure 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, ensure everybody knows.'"