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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back 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 just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow 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 Van de Ven thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

"At the beginning with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, managers analyse everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to get out."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"