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

The Australian's two-year tenure was terminated a just 16 days after he guided Tottenham to a win in the European final, delivering the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.

However, 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 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, following a 3-0 defeat to Forest on Sunday.

"He is a fantastic manager. I still really like him," the Dutch defender 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 brought a trophy to Tottenham," he continued.

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

Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle

The Australian manager joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing 26 points from his first ten league matches.

Nevertheless, that unbeaten run came to an abrupt end with four defeats in five matches, and the team's form deteriorated, ultimately missing out on a top-four finish by a narrow two-point margin.

In the next campaign, they won just 11 of their 38 Premier League fixtures.

Lacking a Plan B

While he appreciated Postecoglou's style, Dutch international the defender believes the team was missing a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Romero spoke about taking a more cautious style with the coach.

"I liked the attacking football at that time but I like what we have now with our current manager. We are more secure at the back. I don't like being vulnerable every game on the counter-attack," he said.

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

"But, coaches study everything and opponents knew what we were doing. At times we lacked a plan B and we were getting exposed. We lacked solutions to resolve it."

"At one point me and Romero approached the manager and suggested we need to change some things and be more defensive to ensure we win those games. He was responded, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to sort this on the pitch, ensure everybody knows.'"