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Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Van de Ven has revealed 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 over two weeks after he led Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the club's first major trophy in 17 years.

Yet, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a disappointing 17th place in Postecoglou's final campaign in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the summer, but Tottenham are presently 11th in the table, with 22 points, following a 3-0 loss to Forest at the weekend.

"He was a fantastic manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven stated on The Overlap podcast.

"I don't know how everything went behind the scenes. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager arrived at Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023-24 season, replacing Conte. He made a bright start with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his opening 10 Premier League games.

However, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four losses in five games, and the team's season tailed off, ultimately missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international the defender thinks the squad was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the offensive play under Postecoglou but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank. We are more solid defensively. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"However, coaches study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times 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 gaffer and said we need to adjust tactically and play more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I want you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"