Spurs defender Van de Ven has revealed he "was completely surprised by" the club's decision to dismiss former manager Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou's two-year tenure came to an end a just over two weeks after he led Tottenham to victory in the Europa League final, securing the team's first piece of silverware in 17 years.
However, this continental triumph was not mirrored in the Premier League, with the team finishing in a lowly 17th position in his last campaign in charge.
He was succeeded by former Brentford boss Frank during the off-season, but Spurs 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," Van de Ven stated on a podcast.
"I'm not sure how everything went backstage. It came as a shock. It was odd 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 mates and said, 'This was the last thing I thought would happen.'"
Initial Success and Subsequent Struggle
Postecoglou joined Tottenham from Scottish champions Celtic before the 2023-24 season, taking over from Antonio Conte. He enjoyed early success with his offensive philosophy of play, amassing an impressive points haul from his first ten league matches.
Nevertheless, that unbeaten run was halted with four losses in five games, and the club's season tailed off, eventually failing to secure a top-four finish by a mere two-point margin.
In the next campaign, they managed only 11 out of 38 league matches.
Lacking a Plan B
Although he enjoyed Postecoglou's style, Netherlands international Van de Ven thinks the team lacked a "plan B" and disclosed he and defensive partner Cristian Romero discussed taking a more cautious style 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 getting exposed every game on the break," he said.
"At the beginning with that system, no team was accustomed to playing against our style. We were playing exceptional football."
"However, coaches analyse everything and people figured out what we were doing. Sometimes we didn't really have a backup plan and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out."
"At one point me and Romero approached the gaffer and suggested we should change some things and play more defensive to make sure we win those games. He was like, 'I agree with you but I expect you two guys to handle this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows.'"
