Tottenham’s manager, Ange Postecoglou, expressed unhappiness at any Spurs fan hoping for a loss against Manchester City.
The 58-years-old says his team’s determination not to make it easy for the champions.
The match carries extra weight as Spurs could potentially affect Arsenal’s title chances, leaving their rivals with a first title in 20 years if they take points from City at home.
Many Spurs fans would rather their side lost, even with a top-four finish and their fine home record against City on the line.
Told the majority of fans on social media appeared to want their side to lose,
Postecoglou said:
“If you’re going by social media then probably 99 per cent of supporters don’t [want Spurs to win], but please don’t tell me that’s your world.
“There’s a bigger world out there mate. We’ll need to have a counselling session if that’s your world.
“To me, I don’t understand it, I never will. I understand rivalry.
I was part of one of the biggest ones 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.
“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 whatever proportion, whether it’s his two mates or 99 per cent of people you know, 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 the match will help us bring joy to 100 per cent of Spurs supporters.”
“Real success looks like trophies. Anything else in between, bragging rights, whatever it is, it is absolutely meaningless to me, to anyone involved with me. We have a game and we want to win.”
Postecoglou does not believe there will be a strange atmosphere at the ground on Tuesday and says he expects the home fans to be behind his side as usual.
“What atmosphere?” “So you think the majority of our fans will want us to not win tomorrow night?
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I don’t see it that way. I think the majority of our fans will create the atmosphere they always create at our home games.
Irrespective, we have a game of football to win and that is what we are going to try to do.”
City are aiming to be the first club to win a fourth consecutive English title and there is a grim sense of inevitability about their form under Pep Guardiola.
But asked his view of their dominance, Postecoglou said:
“Well they haven’t [won four in a row] yet. That’s an important point.
“They haven’t done it yet but if they think you have, then it does become an issue because everyone is putting down the red carpet for them.
I’m not going to do that. I don’t think other managers would do that. I’m certainly not going to sit down and watch them win again. That doesn’t sit comfortably with me.”
Postecoglou, who side ended a four game losing streak with Saturday’s win over Burnley, is looking forward to the test of facing Guardiola’s in-form side.
“Any time you play against Man City — particularly towards the end of the year,
when they always seem to be at their best — it is a hell of a challenge, whether you have gone into it winning nine in a row or, like us, just one game.”
“It is always going to be a test but that is the exciting bit. You want the test, you want the opportunity to take them on. We get that at home tomorrow.”
A victory for Tottenham could significantly bolster their hopes of closing the gap to Aston Villa in the race for Champions League qualification, especially if Villa drop points on the final day of the season.
