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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

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

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"