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Spurs defender Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to part ways with former manager Postecoglou.

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the domestic league, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign at the helm.

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

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

"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.

However, that unbeaten run was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play at that time but I appreciate what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the break," he said.

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

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

"At one point Romero and I approached the manager and said we need to change some things and be more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"