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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 former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just 16 days after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this European success was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Later, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten Premier League games.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

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

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

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

"But, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the gaffer and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure 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.'"