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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.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap 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 the club," he added.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the gaffer and suggested we need to 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 handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"