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Spurs defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my dad and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

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

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

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

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

"Initially with that system, no team was used 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 lacked answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"