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

The Australian's spell in charge was terminated a mere 16 days after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss 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 is a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender stated on The Overlap podcast.

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

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Celtic ahead of 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 opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that fine start was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the club's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a mere two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team lacked a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I enjoyed the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the break," he explained.

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

"But, managers study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the gaffer and suggested we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"