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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last campaign at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss 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 was a really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender told The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking 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 solid at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and suggested we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"