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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on 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

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play 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 explained.

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

"However, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we should adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"