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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he guided the team to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last season in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest at the weekend.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his opening 10 league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the gaffer and said we should change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"