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

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led the team to a win in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last season at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he was dismissed, 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 joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached 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 expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"