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

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

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

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the manager and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"