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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from 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 club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 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 Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"