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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a just over two weeks after he guided the team to a win in the European final, securing the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

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

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.

"I don't know 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 the club," he continued.

"Later, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender believes the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to get out."

"At one point Romero and I walked up to the manager and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win 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.'"