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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he guided Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

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

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven 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 is the coach that won silverware to the club," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my dad and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 league matches.

However, that unbeaten run was halted 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.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, coaches study everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"On one occasion me and Romero approached the manager and suggested we should change some things and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"