Ange Postecoglou is adamant Spurs will not change their freewheeling approach for anyone and that conceding goals comes with the territory in attempting to establish themselves as a force at the top of the Premier League.
Tottenham host Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, hoping to make an early-season statement after a mixed start that has seen them lose points to sucker punches at Leicester and Newcastle.
Their north London rivals will be primed to expose the spaces Postecoglou’s side often leave but he is not worried about the prospect of a hefty goals-against tally at the end of the campaign. “If you’re going to be more attacking, you’re going to have more gaps the other way,” he said. “I get it. People say: ‘We want you to be more attacking, but we want you to be really solid defensively.’ We’re talking about perfection. That doesn’t exist with anyone.
“We’re erring on the side of being more attacking and aggressive, which may mean we concede more than others, but that’s fine. I’m comfortable in that space.”
In April’s edition of this fixture, Arsenal raced into a three-goal interval lead that proved decisive despite two Tottenham responses. Mikel Arteta’s players enjoyed particular success on the counter that afternoon and Postecoglou was asked whether there could be any temptation to adopt a more circumspect approach this time. “I guess there can be,” he said. “But there won’t be.”
It was put to Postecoglou that a high-profile derby win could restore faith among supporters concerned by their drop-off in form, which saw five of their last seven games in 2023-24 end in defeat. “If people have lost faith in what we’re doing, I cannot let that be my guide to what we’re doing,” he said. “My guide is what I see on a daily basis, the way we play our football, the way the team is growing and I’m as optimistic and as bullish as I’ve ever been.
“I want to win big games. But we won big games early last season. It doesn’t mean it’s going to get you to where you want to get to. There’s got to be a consistency in approach. There’s nothing I’ve seen to make me waver in my belief about what we’re doing. There’s only one way to change [perceptions] if people have lost faith in what we’re doing here and that is to perform and win.”
Postecoglou commented on the FA charge given to Rodrigo Bentancur for alleged misconduct after a remark made about his teammate Son Heung-min in June. “They had their discussions about the whole incident and both players understand and respect each other’s position,” he said. “Rodri has already apologised for what he said and Sonny has accepted that. We understand that even though [Bentancur] is a great guy and a fantastic teammate, he has made a big error this time and he has to take the punishment, but also that we [need to] give him the opportunity to atone for it and learn from it.”
Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke, who have missed the past one and two matches respectively through injury, are available. Yves Bissouma is a doubt with what Postecoglou described as “a tweak in his groin”.