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Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd 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, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

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

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have answers to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we need to change some things and play 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.'"