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

Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a just 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a disappointing 17th place in his last season in charge.

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

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven told a podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he's the manager that won silverware to the club," he added.

"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 joined Tottenham from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, taking over from Antonio Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, collecting 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the coach.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid defensively. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

"At the beginning under Postecoglou, no team was used to playing against our style. We were playing unbelievable football."

"However, managers analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. At times we lacked a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

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