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Spurs defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to victory in the European final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

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

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

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

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

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

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the manager and said we need to change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"