Ange Postecoglou revealed that this week has been an eye-opener as Spurs manager after his side lost 2-0 to Manchester City at home.
Tottenham went into Wednesday night’s game needing a victory to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the Uefa Champions League.
But supporters had conflicted feelings about potentially beating Man City, as it would hand bitter north London rivals Arsenal the advantage in the race for the Premier League title.
Some fans were openly hoping their own team would lose the match in order to deny the Gunners a first title win in 20 years, something Postecoglou could not fathom.
The Australian emphasised his ambition is to win and achieve success at the club, admitting he “misread the situation”. He says he now believes the “foundations are fragile” and will have to adjust his approach ahead of next season.
Every word from Ange Postecoglou following Spurs’ defeat to Man City:
“I think the last 48 hours have revealed the foundations are fairly fragile. Outside the club, inside the club, everywhere,” Postecoglou said in his post-match press conference.
“It has been an interesting exercise. It’s just my observations. I’m not going to tell you more. You can make your own assessment of what happened.
“I’ve obviously misread the situation in terms of what is important in the side’s endeavour to become a winning team.
“It’s outside, inside, it’s been an interesting exercise. It’s just my observations. I’m not going to tell you, it’s for me.
“You can make your own assessment of what’s happened, I understand.
“I probably misread the situation as to what I think is important and the endeavour to become a winning team, but that’s okay. That’s why I’m here.
“It’s got nothing to do with the summer plans. The summer plans are there.
“I just want to win, I want to be successful at this club. That’s why I was brought in.
“Other people, what their priorities and interests are, I have zero interest in – I know what’s important to build a winning team, and that’s what I want to concentrate on.
“It is what it is, I can’t dictate what people do. They’re allowed to express themselves however they want. But when we’ve got late winners in games, it’s because the crowd has often helped us.
“I already knew what I wanted to do, I just have to make some adjustments to how I do it.”
He concluded: “It just means the last 48 hours has revealed a fair bit to me. That’s alright, it just means I’ve got to go back to the drawing board with some things.”
