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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge came to an end a mere over two weeks after he guided the team to victory in the Europa League final, delivering the club's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not matched in the domestic league, with the side finishing in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final season at the helm.

He was replaced by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham currently sit 11th in the table, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

"He is a fantastic manager. I have a lot of respect for him," the Dutch defender 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 after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to the club," he added.

"Afterwards, when he was dismissed, I sent a message to my father and my mates and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

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

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five games, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed the attacking approach, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the squad was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed adopting a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the attacking football at that time but I like 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 with that system, no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football."

"But, managers study everything and people knew what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

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