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Spurs defender Van de Ven has admitted he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

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

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

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

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

"But, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"