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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

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

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

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"However, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

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