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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

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

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

"Initially with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"However, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and suggested we need to 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, make sure everybody knows.'"