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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian's two-year tenure came to an end a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last season in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, 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 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 Tottenham," 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.'"

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero discussed taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

"Initially with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"However, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions 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 responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"