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

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

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

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"