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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed 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 led the team to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy 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 Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

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

"Later, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"