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Spurs defender Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

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

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"