🔗 Share this article

Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he led 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 matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about 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 solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and said we need to adjust tactically 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 sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"