🔗 Share this article

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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

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

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

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

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five games, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"Initially with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"However, managers 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 lacked solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"