Spurs star reveals Ange axing shocked the players
Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham just weeks after leading them to Europa League glory, with the decision coming as a shock to some.
Micky van de Ven admitted he was shocked by Ange Postecoglou's sacking at Tottenham, claiming he "never expected it to happen".
Postecoglou took charge of Spurs in June 2023 and led them to the Europa League trophy in 2025, ending the club's 17-year wait for silverware.
However, he was sacked just 16 days after that trophy win, with Spurs finishing 17th in the Premier League, having racked up just 38 points that season.
Postecoglou became the first Premier League manager to win a major trophy and be sacked at the end of that season since Antonio Conte in 2017-2018 with Chelsea.
He was replaced by Thomas Frank this summer, with Spurs now sitting 11th in the table after a mixed start to life under the Dane.
Van de Ven says the decision to let Postecoglou go came as a surprise.
"He was a really good manager. I still really like him," Van de Ven said. "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 for Tottenham.
"Afterwards, when he got sacked, I sent a message to my dad and my friends and said, 'I never expected this'."
Postecoglou's Spurs side struggled with injuries in his second season, having initially looked set to mount a title challenge.
Spurs suffered 22 league defeats in 2024-2025 and won just 11 of their matches in the competition, with Postecoglou's style of play often coming under scrutiny.
"I liked the offensive play [under Postecoglou], but I like what we have now with Thomas Frank," the defender said.
"We are more secure at the back. I don't like getting exposed every game on the counter-attack.
"At the beginning [under Postecoglou], no team was used to playing against our system. We were playing unbelievable football. But managers analyse everything, and people knew what we were doing.
"Sometimes we didn't really have a plan B, and we were getting exposed. We didn't have solutions to get out.
"At one point [me and Cristian Romero] walked up to the gaffer and said we need to 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 sort this on the pitch, make sure everybody knows."
Postecoglou returned to management with Nottingham Forest in September, but his tenure at the City Ground was short lived as he failed to win a game before being replaced by Sean Dyche in October.
