🔗 Share this article

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

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

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign in charge.

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

"He is a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy 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 matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable 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 being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

"At one point me and Romero approached the manager and suggested we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"