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 Postecoglou 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 north London 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 to supporters,” he added.
“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.
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“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 isn’t 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 left for Bayern Munich last August.
Spurs are currently the sixth-highest scorers in the top flight, with only Newcastle and the top four ahead of them. Postecoglou praised his players for stepping up and not feeling sorry for themselves after Harry Kane’s defection to Bayern Munich.
The England captain was sold for £86.4million, two days before Tottenham’s opening game of the season at Brentford. Postecoglou admitted he is still hunting for more firepower. “You’re starting a season and the most significant person at this football club, maybe ever, has just left on the eve of the first game,” he said.
“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. Particularly the players.
“But the players never batted an eyelid - which they could have. I still feel that is where we need our biggest amount of improvement, in that front third.
“But in the absence of such a key player as Harry for us, to still be in the position we are and to have scored the goals we have, that is a credit to the group.”
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