Ange Postecoglou was in no mood for excuses as Tottenham snatched a late 1-1 UEFA Europa League draw at Rangers.
Spurs’ inconsistency continued on Postecouglou’s return to Glasgow as the hosts were the better side for the majority of the tie at Ibrox.
Alongside a regular barrage of abuse from the home fans – due to Postecoglou’s success with their fierce Old Firm rivals Celtic – it was an uncomfortable night for the 59-year-old back in Scotland.
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Tottenham have won just one of their last eight games across all competitions and they sit in 9th place in the final Europa League rankings of 2024 – just outside the automatic Round of 16 qualification spots.
The pressure on Postecoglou is clear and he was visibly rattled in his post-game press conference.
Postecoglou has developed a reputation for defending his players, through all criticism. but he pulled no punches in his assessment of Timo Werner’s performance.
The Germany international was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski at half-time – with the Swede netting Spurs’ equaliser late on – and Postecoglou was ruthless in his remarks at full-time.
“He wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should be. When you’ve got 18-year-olds here, that’s not acceptable to me. I said that to Timo. He’s a senior German international. In the moment we’re in right now, we’ve not got many options,” he said.
“I need everyone to at least be going out there trying to give their best. His performance in the first half wasn’t acceptable.
“I don’t know [how he took it]. It’s not really of great concern. We need everybody. including him. to contribute. because we don’t have the depth to leave people out if they perform poorly. We need them to play their part, especially the senior guys. When I’m asking younger guys to do massive jobs. I expect a performance level from the senior guys, and today wasn’t that.”
Up next for Tottenham is a weekend Premier League trip to rock-bottom Southampton on December 15 followed by an EFL Cup home tie with Manchester United four days later.
