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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last campaign at the helm.

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

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, 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 Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. 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 being caught out. We didn't have answers to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"