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Spurs defender Van de Ven has admitted he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with former manager Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's two-year tenure was terminated a mere over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the European final, delivering the team's first major trophy in nearly two decades.

However, this European success was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team ending up in a lowly 17th place in his last season at the helm.

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

"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender told a podcast.

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was odd how everything went after - he is the coach that brought a trophy to Tottenham," he added.

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

The Rise and Fall

The Australian manager joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, replacing Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his attacking style of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

However, that fine start came to an abrupt end with four losses in five matches, and the club's form deteriorated, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a mere two points.

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

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender believes the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Cristian 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 our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I dislike being vulnerable every game on the break," he said.

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

"However, managers study everything and opponents figured out what we were doing. At times we didn't really have a plan B and we were being caught out. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"On one occasion me and Romero 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 handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"