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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season at the helm.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I don't know 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 Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, 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 Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two-point margin.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

"Initially under Postecoglou, no team was accustomed to playing against our system. We were playing exceptional football."

"However, coaches study everything and opponents figured out 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."

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"