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

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven believes the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"However, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we need to adjust tactically and be more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"