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Spurs defender Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's move to dismiss ex-boss Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

Yet, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side ending up in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final campaign at the helm.

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 really good manager. I have a lot of respect for him," Van de Ven told The Overlap podcast.

"I'm not sure how everything went behind the scenes. It came as a shock. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He made a bright start with his offensive philosophy 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 form deteriorated, ultimately failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.

The following season, they won just 11 out of 38 Premier League fixtures.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Dutch international Van de Ven believes the team was missing a "alternative strategy" and revealed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the offensive play at that time but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more secure defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he explained.

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

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

"On one occasion me and Romero walked up to the manager and suggested we need to change some things and play more defensive to make sure we secure victory in those games. He was like, 'I understand with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"