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Ange Postecoglou understands the significance of Sunday’s visit of Arsenal, but would be disappointed if his Tottenham players wanted to win this match more than next week’s trip to Coventry.
Spurs have failed to taste success in any of the last four north London derby fixtures, with Mikel Arteta able to turn the Gunners into Premier League title contenders in recent years.
Postecoglou largely enjoyed a positive debut campaign in England but found himself at odds with sections of the Spurs fanbase in May when Manchester City visited N17.
City made the trip to Tottenham on May 14 with home supporters conflicted, given a positive result for Spurs would have put Arsenal in the driving seat to win the title, but the visitors ran out narrow 2-0 winners.
Nevertheless, Postecoglou wants his squad to go into every match with the same desire.
“I don’t feel any more pressure because there was pressure in that (Man City) game. I want to win every game,” Postecoglou said.
“I don’t care who we are playing. Let’s go out and play each other. I would want to beat you!
There’s nothing I’ve seen to make me waver in my belief about what we’re doing— Ange Postecoglou
“I really would hate to think there are players in the dressing room who want to win this game more than any others.
“Or prepare differently or try harder in this game than any other, because that’s not the way forward. We understand the significance of it because if we do win, our supporters will be over the moon.
“I understand that if we don’t win, they are going to be devastated, but if we prepare this game differently than any other, then I’m disappointed because I want to win every time. That’s the only way you can be successful.
“I make no apologies for that. I’m not going to prepare any different for this game than I did against Newcastle or I will against Coventry.
“I want to win all the time and I want our club to win all the time. And if you do that then, yeah, if you beat your rivals in a big derby game then everyone gets excited and everyone feels great, but I want more than that.”
The Australian coach masterminded statement triumphs over Manchester United and Liverpool during the first two months of last season.
Spurs were also able to win comprehensively at Aston Villa in March, but during the final month of the campaign suffered losses at Liverpool and Chelsea alongside the 2-0 home reverse to champions City.
Asked if Tottenham needed a big win to restore faith in his methods, Postecoglou provided a defence of his progress, only 15 months into his reign.
Postecoglou questioned: “What do you mean by faith? If people have lost faith in what we’re doing, I cannot let that be my guide to what we’re doing.
“My guide is what I see on a daily basis, the way we play our football, the way the team is growing and I’m as optimistic and as bullish as I’ve ever been.
“Is it important to win big games? Absolutely yes, I want to win big games, but we won big games early last season.
“It doesn’t mean it’s going to get you to where you want to get to. There’s got to be a consistency in approach. There’s nothing I’ve seen to make me waver in my belief about what we’re doing.”
