Tonight, Tottenham will face Manchester City in a crunch match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The home side need a win to keep their hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League final alive while the visitors need a win to keep the title race in their own hands heading into the final weekend of the season.
Despite Tottenham needing a win, many Tottenham fans online have openly admitted that they want their team to lose on Tuesday night as it will likely mean Arsenal missing out on the title. The two North London clubs have a well-established rivalry and for many Spurs fans, missing out on the Champions League is worth it if they can inflict misery on Arsenal.
At the pre-match press conference before the match, Tottenham boss, Ange Postecoglou was asked about whether he was aware of the feelings of Tottenham fans and the Australian didn't disappoint with his response.
Postecoglou claims he knows what ‘100% of Spurs fans' want
When asked about the supposed dilemma, the former Celtic manager said:
“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. 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.”
“When did Tottenham last win a trophy?” 😅
“I walk through the halls, there are no bragging rights trophies in there” 😂
Ange Postecoglou is ruthless 💯
🔗 https://t.co/4eKxJfGZxk pic.twitter.com/5WN3H5W5C7
— Hayters TV (@HaytersTV) May 13, 2024
Postecolgou goes in on perceived ‘bragging rights'
The Spurs manager didn't stop there as he then got on to the topic of bragging rights. For him, bragging rights without silverware are meaningless. He explained to reporters:
“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.
“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?”