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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th place in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

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

"He is 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 behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was odd how everything went afterwards - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he continued.

"Later, when he was dismissed, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten Premier League games.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow 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 Van de Ven thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed taking a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure at the back. I dislike getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

"But, coaches analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"At one point Romero and I approached the gaffer and suggested we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"