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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the club's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender 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 added.

"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

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

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

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"