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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"Initially with that system, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and said we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"