Ange Postecoglou stands by his brutal 'assessment' of Timo Werner's performance against Rangers – as he demands his Tottenham stars stand up and be counted.
Postecoglou took aim at on-loan Germany international Werner after Spurs' 1-1 draw against Ibrox on Thursday evening. Dejan Kulusevski's 75th-minute equalizer saw injury-hit Spurs claim a point and keep their Europa League bid alive.
But Werner was replaced at half-time after a disappointing first-half performance which the Spurs boss insisted was “not acceptable”. He reiterated his position ahead of Sunday's visit to Southampton in the Premier League, but admitted the loanee from RB Leipzig will be needed this weekend as nine players are unavailable.
“It wasn't criticism. It was a judgment call,” he said. “With Timo it wasn't about whether he played well or not. It was a tough match last night.
“I'm asking 18-year-olds to do some huge jobs and you want senior players, and he's a senior player, he's an international and he's won the Champions League, there's a level of application and performance that you should achieve. help the team. He didn't achieve that. I think it was enough to take him off at half time. In the same way, I won't hide behind poor team performance, same with and no different for the players otherwise.
“It wasn't a criticism, it was just an assessment of his performance and on a very challenging night for us, where we knew going into it, we had to do better. We are in a fight here, collectively we are in a fight. I'm not going to worry about people's bruised egos.
“We want to achieve things and be successful with this football club. We are players to the core. If there is someone in the dressing room who is fit, can contribute, but who feels like he needs something extra at the moment, then he is probably not the right type.
“I need guys who, and we had that last night, understand the situation we're in. We have fifteen fit players and in some positions we only have two players. I'm not going to try to get extra out of people. If they can't give extra now, that gives me an indication of where they are.”
Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur started at Rangers, but both have to serve a suspension at St Mary's on Sunday. And ahead of a crucial week for his side – with Manchester United in the Carabao Cup on Thursday before Premier Leeague leaders Liverpool arrive on December 22 – Postcoglou called on his senior stars to step up.
“We are in battle, we have a limited number of players to call on and we have some big games that could define our season,” he added. “We just need people who have that level of dedication and application to find our way through. As much as I talk about Timo, I'm now talking about the whole group and all of us.
“This isn't about one person, it's about what we're in and the situation we're in right now. We have a limited number of players, we are very tense, but we have big games that can define our season.
“It's a great challenge. I want people who are ready for that challenge.”
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