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

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he guided the team to a win in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

The following season, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I walked up to the gaffer and said we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"