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Spurs centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just 16 days after he guided the team to victory in the European final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, 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.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more defensive approach 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 being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

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

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