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Spurs defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere 16 days after he led the team to victory in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last season in charge.

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

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told 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 is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

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

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

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

"At the beginning with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

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