Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou says that his players “want to change the destiny” of the club after they went top of the Premier League table on Saturday.
Spurs defeated Luton Town 1-0 at Kenilworth Road, but had to play the entire second half down a man after Yves Bissouma received a second booking for simulation just before the break.
The deadlock was broken in the 52nd minute when James Maddison managed to wriggle away from the Hatters defence to set up Micky van de Ven for his first goal since joining the club.
Postecoglou was impressed with the “character and resilience” shown by his side, which has become a theme this season.
“We started really well, should have been three or four up, but then you get the red card and it is a different type of game,” the Australian told TNT Sports after the final whistle.
“I thought we held it together really well. They had some opportunities, we had a few of our own. In the end we get three points at a difficult place to go.”
Tottenham have received tonnes of praise for their attractive style of play, but they have also shed the image of a team that would capitulate when the going got tough, as often happened last season.
“I don’t think it is fair to compare to last season, and speak about what happened then,” Postecoglou said. “It is all credit to the players, the way they have bought into what we are trying to do.
“We are really tight as a group, which you see because not only are we winning games but apart from the football which has been good, the resilience we have shown has been great.
“The players want to change the destiny of this football club and that is what they are trying to do on the pitch.”
Postecoglou also explained his decision to take off Richarlison at half time and replace him with midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
“I thought we needed a little more control. Pierre is an experienced player in the middle, and I thought we would still be a threat with Deki [Kulusevski] and Sonny [Heung-min] up front.
“They put some balls in the box that we had to deal with, but [Hojbjerg] was excellent in there keeping the ball away from our goal.”
Read – Van de Ven loving life at Spurs after netting winner
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