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Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss 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 on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told a 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 added.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio 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 was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about 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 dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

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

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"