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Spurs centre-back 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 two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

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

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

"Later, when he got sacked, 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 campaign, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were being caught out. We didn't have answers to get out."

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