Ange Postecoglou heaped great praise on Arsenal ahead of the North London Derby. Tottenham Hotspur will host the Gunners at N17 on Sunday afternoon as both sides look to climb the Premier League table.
Just before the international break, the Lilywhites dropped to 10th after suffering a disappointing 2-1 defeat away to Newcastle United. As for the Gunners, they were, controversially, held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton at the Emirates Stadium, falling two points short of Manchester City and Liverpool in the title race.
While Tottenham have, so far, fallen short, Postecoglou identified this weekend’s clash as a ‘great opportunity’ to build some momentum. So, with that being said, football.london has taken you behind the scenes at Hotspur Way ahead of the North London Derby.
Fans queuing up to meet their idols
Upon arriving at the club’s training base in Enfield, there were crowds of supporters armed with shirts, marker pens and cameras, waiting to get a glimpse of their favourite players. Unsurprisingly, Son Heung-min appeared to be a fan favourite, with his name on the back of numerous jerseys.
‘Arrrrrrsenal, Arrrrrrsenal‘ chants
As I made my way to the security office (the white building, as pictured below on the right) to check-in with a club official at the entrance, an Arsenal supporter took the chance to make his feelings known ahead of the North London Derby. As they drove past, they wound down their car window and shouted: “Arrrrrrsenal, Arrrrrrsenal.”
Later, speaking to reporters, Postecoglou was asked to sum up the rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham. The Spurs boss said: “This one you can tell that it’s fairly intense between the two clubs. Obviously, geographically situated in the same part of town.
“They’re trying to defend the same turf and there’s always a little bit of an edge,” added Postecoglou. “We know what it means to our supporters and what it means to the club. But like I said, for us, what is really important is we got to go out there and perform.”
The proof is in the pudding
In May 2022, the Tottenham grounds team won the prestigious Premier League Grounds Team of the Season award for 2021/22 – and the proof is in the pudding. My goodness, the pitches at Hotspur Way are immaculate.
In an interview with the club website upon receiving the award, Tottenham’s former head of playing surfaces and estates revealed what makes the training ground so special. Darren Baldwin said: “When we renovate pitches at Hotspur Way, we lose the grass, that goes off for composting, and we re-use all the sand in landscaping projects, environmentally-friendly practices that are a massive part of what we do.
“If we do it at Spurs, we do it properly, we lead on sustainability and I’m very proud of the Club and my team for making us as green as we possibly can be
Postecoglou makes Gold joke
In the absence of Alasdair Gold, Postecoglou took the chance to make a light-hearted joke about football.london’s chief Tottenham reporter, which went down well in the Hotspur Way auditorium. When asked how difficult a decision it was to leave Djed Spence out of the Europa League 23-man squad, the Spurs boss gave a brilliant response.
“I’m disappointed,” began Postecoglou. Ali’s (Alasdair Gold) not here because this was his baby [laughs]! But, look, it was always going to be a difficult decision. Obviously with the makeup of our squad currently – you are always going to have to leave somebody out and Djed was the unfortunate one.”
Ange clearly missed seeing his mate on Friday. Sorry!
