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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

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

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"