Postecoglou - Our fans '100%' desire to defeat Man City
Tottenham faces Manchester City on Tuesday in a match pivotal to the title race outcome.
Ange Postecoglou expressed his bewilderment at any Tottenham supporters who might wish their team to lose, even if it hindered Arsenal's Premier League title prospects.
Tottenham faces Manchester City on Tuesday in a match pivotal to the title race outcome.
A victory or draw for Tottenham against Pep Guardiola's squad would place north London rivals Arsenal in the lead to finish ahead of defending champions City.
The Gunners currently hold a one-point advantage at the top but have played one more game than City, who could reclaim the top spot with a win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with only one game left.
Meanwhile, Tottenham is pursuing fourth-placed Aston Villa, trailing by four points, with a Champions League spot on the line.
This situation has left some Tottenham fans with mixed emotions ahead of their penultimate game of the season. Still, Postecoglou was resolute in his stance.
"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," said the Spurs boss.
"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."
Postecoglou believes "100% of Spurs supporters" are rooting for his side to defeat City but acknowledged that "people are allowed to feel the way they do."
However, the 58-year-old Australian asserted that he has never derived "pleasure from other people's misery" in his life.
He added, "Real success looks like trophies. Anything else in between, bragging rights, whatever, it is absolutely meaningless to me."
Guardiola, the City boss, underscored the significance of Tuesday's result.
He stated that anything short of victory at Spurs would jeopardize their opportunity to clinch an unprecedented fourth consecutive English top-flight title.
City has won seven consecutive games and remained unbeaten in the Premier League since December, whereas Tottenham's win over Burnley on Saturday marked their first victory in five matches.
"The mindset is easy because if we don't win, we don't win the Premier League," Guardiola said.
"It's obvious. We have just one option: win the game. We travel for that."
Guardiola's squad has encountered similar scenarios previously, holding their nerve to secure the title in 2018-19 and 2021-22 by a solitary point.
On both occasions, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool challenged City until the final game of the season.
Guardiola concluded, "I felt from what happened in the past with the way we were playing against Liverpool I said 'Either we win, win, win or it will be over'.
"I had the feeling to beat Arsenal is so difficult because they make very good things in all departments and are difficult to beat so if we have the chance for it to depend on us we have to use it."