Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has defended the club following Hugo Lloris’ comments that they were happy to be second best in his new book.
The former Spurs captain said chairman Daniel Levy gifted the players watches with “Champions League finalists” before they had even faced Liverpool in 2019.
However, Postecoglou, who has questioned the club’s mentality himself, insists the period Lloris referred to should be looked back upon with pride.
“I haven't read what Hugo's said, it's been mentioned to me,” Postecoglou said. “I think with these things you've got to put context around them and understand the broader view and that could have been a very successful period for the club.
'They came very, very close. You're talking about finishing runners-up in the Premier League and runners-up in the Champions League. It could have been a very different era and maybe in retrospect you'll be looking at those things.”
During that period when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge, Spurs came close on several occasions to winning a major trophy, and achieved their highest-ever league points tally in 2016/17.
However, they failed to get over the line, with the club now enduring a 16-year silverware drought.
Postecoglou has regularly repeated his belief that he will win trophies with the North London club, and suggested nobody would sway him from that.
He said: “From my perspective I've never allowed anyone else to dictate my ambitions, my aims, or what I try and do with everyone around me is you don't put a limit on what you can achieve because if you do you potentially might miss something that comes along your way.”
Spurs will be looking to bounce back from their 3-2 defeat away to Galatasaray in the Europa League when they host winless Ipswich Town on Sunday.
