🔗 Share this article

Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Spurs 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 a podcast.

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

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like 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 with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches study everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

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