Ange Postecoglou says he fails to understand any Tottenham Hotspur fan who is hoping for a defeat against Manchester City on Tuesday.
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A home win for Postecoglou’s side, or even a draw, would give a big helping hand to Spurs’ arch-rivals Arsenal, leaving the Gunners top of the table above Man City with one match to play and in pole position to win the Premier League title.
On the other hand, a Spurs defeat on Tuesday would put Man City in top spot ahead of Sunday’s finale, dealing a bitter blow to Arsenal’s hopes.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
It puts Spurs fans in an unusual position - possibly wanting their team to lose - but Postecoglou has little time for such a perspective.
“I was part of one of the biggest rivalries in the world in the last couple of years with Celtic and Rangers, and I understand the rivalry, but I’ve never and will never understand if someone wants their own team to lose,” he said. “That’s not what sport is about. It’s not what I love about the game.
“What I love more than anything in the game is the competitiveness, challenging yourself to beat someone and coming out successful. Anything outside of that, it’s got nothing to do with sport. It’s got nothing to do with me.
“If other people want to treat it that way, that they get pleasure from other people's misery, that’s not how I've lived my life and how I perceive my role.
“My role is to bring success to this football club and I know 100 per cent of Spurs supporters want us to win, be successful and win trophies. That is without a shadow of a doubt, and us winning tomorrow night will help us bring joy to 100 per cent of Spurs supporters.”
'Bragging rights are meaningless'
Postecoglou has warned fans that focusing on Arsenal’s title bid will do little to help Spurs achieve their ultimate goals.
“People are allowed to feel the way they do, but I think I’ve been really consistent and really strong in my beliefs that it’s important for this football club, to get to where we want, to not look for some silver bullets that are going to get us to where we want to - it’s going to be hard work, it’s perseverance, it’s resilience, it’s quality that’ll get us what we want,” he said.
“[Also, we have to] not to fall for any sort of false dawns or any short-term result reactions - stick to the cause. And thirdly, know what real success looks like.
“Real success looks like trophies. Anything in between - bragging rights, whatever it is, it’s absolutely meaningless to me, to anyone involved with me. We’ve got a game tomorrow that we want to win.
“You think the majority of our fans are going to want us to not win tomorrow night? I don’t see it that way. I think the majority of our fans will create the atmosphere they’ve always created in our home games and, irrespective, we’ve got a game of football to win and that’s what we’re going to try to do.
"I'd hate to think that anyone thinks we would go out there tomorrow with anything other than trying to measure ourselves against a top team, and maybe win a game of football that's consequential.
"How are we ever going to become a team that wins things if we don't win the big games, if we shy away from them?"