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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

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

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"