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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last season in charge.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Spurs are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He was a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, replacing Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that fine start was halted with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked answers to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and said we should change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"