Ange Postecoglou gives emphatic response to the Tottenham fans wanting to lose vs Man City

Ange Postecoglou has not held back on his thoughts surrounding the suggestion Tottenham will want to lose against Manchester City to prevent Arsenal from winning the Premier League.

Following the latest set of results, Man City have to win their final two games to claim a fourth consecutive title. The Gunners meanwhile, are currently top of the league on 86 points but will likely need a favour from their bitter rivals to be crowned champions.

Considering both teams will enter their final day games against Everton and West Ham as huge favourites, it could all come down to Tottenham. For that reason, some Tottenham supporters have hinted they would rather lose to Man City, at the expense of their own Champions League hopes, than win and hand the title to Arsenal.

Ahead of Tuesday's clash, Postecoglou was asked for his thoughts on that suggestion with the Tottenham boss seemingly angered by the topic being brought up and the inaccuracy of the question.

Speaking in a press conference, he said: "A proportion of our fans [want us to lose]? What does that mean? What proportion? Really? 50 per cent? 20 per cent? One per cent? You don’t know, OK. So let’s answer a question we don’t know the answer to. Yeah, that’s fine. People are allowed to feel the way they do.

"I think I have been really consistent and I think really strong in my beliefs that it is important for this football club to get to where to want to, to a) not look for some silver bullet that is going to get us to where we want. It is hard work, it is perseverance, it is resilience, it is quality that will get us where we want. Not to fall for any sort of false dawns or short-term result reactions.

READ MORE: Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has already sent Man City title race message amid Arsenal theory

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou press conference LIVE - Tottenham boss on Manchester City, Arsenal and title

"Stick to the course. Thirdly, know what real success looks like. Real success looks like trophies. Anything else in between, bragging rights, whatever it is, it is absolutely meaningless to me, to anyone involved with me. We have a game tomorrow we want to win."

When asked if it was weird knowing Arsenal want Spurs to win, he replied: "I don't know - I've never thought about sport in that way. Like I said, there's a pretty simple notion to this - there's a game of football tomorrow night. What do you think is going to happen? What do you think we're going to do as a team? Or any team on this planet.

"Aren't we just going to try and win? It's a simple, basic premise. Now how that makes people feel, I'm not really fussed. I don't really care. I'd hate to think that anyone will think we'll go out there tomorrow with anything other than trying to measure ourselves against a top team and maybe win a game of football that's consequential.

"How are we ever going to become a team that wins things if in the big games we shy away from it. Why would we shy away from a challenge tomorrow that exists? Look, I get it. Your straw poll of Arsenal fans if it's correct, and if we walk out to 50 per cent boos tomorrow and 50 per cent cheering... but I think that's highly unlikely."

Despite the possibility of a Spurs win handing Arsenal the league title, it is very unlikely those in the stadium, and definitely not the Tottenham squad, will want Man City to win, with it seeming to be those on social media that want to lose the game.

When asked about it from that perspective, Postecoglou said: "Well yeah if you're going by social media then probably 99% of supporters who don't [want Spurs to win], but please don't tell me that's your world Charlie. There's a bigger world out there mate. We'll need to have a counselling session if that's your world.

"To me, I don't understand it, I never will. 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 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 whatever proportion, whether it's his two mates or 99% of people you know, I know 100% 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% of Spurs supporters."

Want breaking and top Tottenham stories sent straight to you? Join our Spurs WhatsApp community by clicking this link. If you're curious you can check out our privacy policy here.

Catch up with this week's Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here! In depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.