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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he added.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before 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 came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"