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Tottenham Hotspur defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to part ways with ex-boss Ange Postecoglou.

Postecoglou's spell in charge was terminated a just over two weeks after he led the team to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in nearly two decades.

However, this continental triumph was not matched in the Premier League, with the side finishing in a lowly 17th position in Postecoglou's final season in charge.

He was succeeded by ex-Brentford manager Thomas Frank during the off-season, but Spurs currently sit in 11th place, with 22 points from 16 games, following a 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

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

"I don't know how everything went backstage. I didn't expect it. It was strange how everything went after - he's the manager that won silverware to Tottenham," he added.

"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I texted to my father and my friends and said, 'I never expected this.'"

The Rise and Fall

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, collecting 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 team's season tailed off, eventually missing out on Champions League qualification by a narrow two points.

In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.

Tactical Concerns Revealed

While he appreciated the attacking approach, Dutch international the defender thinks the squad lacked a "alternative strategy" and disclosed he and fellow centre-back Romero discussed adopting a more defensive approach with the manager.

"I liked the attacking football under Postecoglou but I appreciate 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 said.

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

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

"On one occasion Romero and I approached the manager and suggested we should change some things 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.'"