Ange Postecoglou has promised Tottenham supporters that his side will “scare the life out of” opponents, as he prepares for this weekend’s north London derby against Arsenal.
Spurs make the short trip to the Emirates Stadium for Sunday’s crunch clash, with both clubs unbeaten in the Premier League and level on 13 points from five games.
Postecoglou has quickly transformed Spurs from the reactive football of Antonio Conte into an exhilarating attacking unit and has no plans compromise, even against an Arsenal team who relish an open game – as they demonstrated with a 4-0 dismantling of PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Asked about his approach against more established opponents, the Australian said: “In terms of the way we play, we’re not changing, mate. We’ll go out and scare the life out of them.”
Postecoglou needs no reminding of the significance of local rivalries after spending two seasons in charge of Celtic, where the Old Firm battle always defines their season.
“I’m well aware of obviously the [north London] rivalry and you take that into account because it means so much to supporters,” the 58-year-old said.
“Being Celtic manager, there really was only one result the supporters were interested in.
Ange Postecoglou will not sacrifice his attacking principles against Arsenal
“Every time I opened my door, I could tell if the Amazon guy was a Rangers or Celtic supporter, depending on how he delivered the package! He either threw it at me or wanted a selfie! So you understand that.
“I love that, that’s the beauty of the game. It’s the passion it brings. People feel like their football club is an extension of their family and they want to protect that, want to make sure every week when they go into battle we come out victors, particularly against our rivals.
“It’s a big game, a great test for us as a group, particularly away from home,” added Postecoglou, who was speaking at Tuesday’s Tottenham fan forum.
“We’ve already had great challenges away from home. I’m excited by it, I’m looking forward to it. That’s why we do what we do.
“We want to be involved in big games, overcome the challenges before us. We’ll go there and play our football and see where that takes us.”
Source: Evening Standard
