NO SPUR IN JUST BEATING RIVALS
SHELVE all the usual shtick about bragging rights. Put to one side the prize of trending on Twitter for sticking a spoke in the title wheels of their bitter rivals.
Ange Postecoglu (above) is looking beyond all that. He wants to be where Arsenal are next season – fighting for the title.
His Spurs squad continues to progress with that in mind. And this derby is just the latest staging post in a journey he is hoping will end at the top table.
“I want to win and I understand the importance of winning against your traditional rival,” said the man who lifted last season’s
Scottish title with Celtic.
“I’ve just come down from Glasgow. I’ve got a fair idea about what derbies mean.
“I never believe your motivation should revolve around the demise of somebody else. Your motivation should be about yourself. I want us to progress, to be fighting for the title. That’s what drives me, not the demise. If that’s your kind of measure, always peering over the back fence to see what your neighbour is building, you could both have the worst houses in the street because everyone else is building beautiful places and you’re looking over the back fence.”
The view in Tottenham’s own garden is not too shabby. With two games in hand on fourth-placed Aston Villa, they could still land a Champions League place, a far cry from expectations after Harry Kane (below) left for Bayern Munich last August.
Postecoglu praised his players for stepping up and not feeling sorry for themselves after Kane’s defection to Bayern.
The England captain was sold for £86.4million, two days before Tottenham’s opening game of the season at Brentford.
Postecoglu admitted he is still hunting for more firepower. “I remember making a real conscious effort of looking really graceful above the water and if there was any panicking happening, making sure it was under the water so that nobody could see,” the Aussie said. “But the players never batted an eyelid.
“I still feel that is where we need our biggest improvement, in that front third.”