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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 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," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. 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 father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style 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 solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"