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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points, 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'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

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 manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and said we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"