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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian'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 club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign in charge.

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

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

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

"Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

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

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

"But, coaches study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"