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Ange Postecoglou is unequivocal in his belief that Tottenham will come through this tough period but has warned his squad, life will never be comfortable during his reign.<\/p>\n
Spurs claimed an unwanted Premier League record on Thursday night when they went ahead for a fifth-consecutive Premier League match, but again failed to hold on with West Ham able to secure a 2-1 away win.<\/p>\n
It continued the club\u2019s poor run of results, which has coincided with their squad being depleted by injuries and suspensions but the latest example of Postecoglou\u2019s team taking the lead and throwing it away sparked debate over the historic \u2018Spursy\u2019 tag.<\/p>\n
While Postecoglou insisted rival fans using that word was akin to playground chat, he acknowledged his players must embrace the pressure if they are to be part of his journey in north London.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s schoolyard stuff. All I need to know is that this club hasn\u2019t won anything for 15 years. That\u2019s all I need to know,\u201d Postecoglou said ahead of Sunday\u2019s visit of Newcastle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy that is and why others may think that is and whatever tag, that\u2019s the reality. There\u2019s no getting away from that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no point in me trying to disguise that, or anybody else at this football club trying to disguise that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to be successful, then like most organisations, you\u2019ve got to learn from the mistakes of the past, you\u2019ve got to come up with a plan, you\u2019ve got to stick to it.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s never going to be a time where it’s going to be smooth – not while I\u2019m at the club<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been there and I have the benefit of experience. I\u2019ve been through this many times, so I know, unequivocally, what we need to do, but for a lot of these guys, it\u2019s the first time and I\u2019m always mindful of that wherever I\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlways in the first season there are challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayers need to go through that and come out the other side and see that, \u2018OK, we\u2019ve survived that. It hasn\u2019t killed us, we\u2019re still going, we\u2019re still alive, we\u2019re still up for it,\u2019 right? And then if anything, it can make us stronger going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy role in this is to guide the players through it. I know how we get through this and I know what the road ahead looks like, but they\u2019ve got to go through it themselves and find out about it themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo they want to be part of this because it\u2019s not going to get any easier. That\u2019s the one thing I keep telling them. There\u2019s never going to be a time where it\u2019s going to be smooth \u2013 not while I\u2019m at the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when things are going well. I\u2019m going to be pushing for us to be better. I\u2019m going to be pushing for us to improve and pushing for us to bring success to this football club.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, there\u2019s never going to be a time where they can feel any sort of comfort that things are going to run smoothly. The more they embrace this side of it, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tottenham\u2019s major problem in recent weeks has been turning their dominance into goals and they have scored only once in four of their last five matches.<\/p>\n
Postecoglou\u2019s team gained plaudits for being great entertainers during the opening months of the campaign when they embarked on a 10-match unbeaten run, but he knows they must marry that with a killer edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t play this kind of football to entertain. I play this kind of football because it wins,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it happens to also entertain, which I like, but I don\u2019t think they need to be mutually exclusive.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy whole career has been about winning things. That\u2019s why I want us to play the way we are.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where you can sometimes fall down a trap and it\u2019s happened at every club I\u2019ve been at, where the players sometimes think playing that football is enough \u2013 it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n