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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic before 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 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 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

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

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