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

The Australian's spell in charge came to an end a just 16 days after he guided the team to a win in the European final, securing the club's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a disappointing 17th position in his last campaign in charge.

He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Tottenham are presently in 11th place, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

"He is 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 won silverware to Tottenham," he continued.

"Afterwards, 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.'"

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Spurs from Celtic before the 2023/24 campaign, replacing 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 was halted with four defeats in five matches, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

The following season, they managed only 11 of their 38 league matches.

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven thinks the team was missing a "plan B" and revealed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the manager.

"I enjoyed the offensive play under Postecoglou but I appreciate what we have now with our current manager. We are more solid at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, managers analyse everything and opponents knew what we were doing. Sometimes we lacked a plan B and we were being caught out. We didn't have solutions to get out."

"At one point me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we should adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we secure victory in those games. He was responded, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"