Ange Postecoglou stated that Tottenham will give everything to defeat Manchester City on Tuesday, even if it could open the door for rivals Arsenal to win the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal is one point above Manchester City at the top of the table, but Pep Guardiola’s team has a game in hand. Arsenal, with 86 points, hosts Everton in the season’s final match on Sunday, while City plays against West Ham at home.
This means that if City win their last two games, they will secure an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title.
Much of the talk ahead of Tuesday’s game has focused on whether Tottenham fans will want their team to lose to deny Arsenal the opportunity to win the league for the first time in 20 years, but Spurs’ manager, Postecoglou, didn’t like the idea that the team was focused on anything other than victory, in the pre-match press conference on Monday.
“People can feel what they feel, but I think I’ve been very consistent and very strong in my convictions that it’s important for this club to get to where we want,” he said.
“It’s the hard work, the perseverance, the resilience, the quality that will get us to where we want, not falling for any kind of false dawns or short-term results reactions, staying the course, and thirdly, knowing what true success is,” he continued.
“True success is trophies. Everything else, the bragging rights, whatever it is, is absolutely insignificant to me… we have a game tomorrow (Tuesday) that we want to win,” he emphasized.
The former Celtic manager expressed confidence that the fans will support Tottenham on Tuesday and that online opinions are not a good guide.
“If you look at social media, probably 99% of Spurs fans don’t want (to win against City). If that’s your world, but please don’t tell me it is, we need to have a counseling session,” he quipped.
“I understand the rivalry, I’ve been part of one of the biggest rivalries in the world in recent years, with Celtic and Rangers, but I’ll never understand someone wanting their own team to lose. That’s not what sports is about,” he concluded.
Tottenham was the Premier League leader at the beginning of the season, but a drop in form towards the end of the season seems to cost them a place in the Champions League next season.
A victory for fourth-placed Aston Villa against Liverpool on Monday would end the club’s hopes of qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition.