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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "never expected" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's season tailed off, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

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

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"