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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 Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

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

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

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

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."

"But, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan 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 said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in 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.'"