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Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

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

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

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

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "alternative strategy" 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 like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and said we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"