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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats 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 won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we should change some things 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 handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"