London, Dec 13 (IANS): After a disastrous night for German forward Timo Werner, whose ‘unacceptable’ performance translated into Tottenham Hotspur drawing 1-1 against Rangers on Friday (IST), head coach Ange Postecoglu has backed his public criticism of Werner claiming he is not worried about bruising player’s egos.
"It wasn’t criticism. It was an assessment. He’s [Werner] an international, he’s won the Champions League, he’s a senior player. There’s a level of application you need to rise to, to raise the team. He didn’t reach that. It’s just an assessment of his performance.
"On a really challenging night for us, which we knew going into it, he needs to be better. We’re in a fight here. I’m not going to go away worrying about people’s bruised egos. We’re here to win things,” said Ange Posteciglu in the pre-game conference.
Werner was certainly not up to the mark as he lost possession 16 times, did not win any of his five duels and only completed 69% of his passes on a painful night for his team in the 1-1 draw against Rangers. Since joining the North London side in January 2024, Werner has played in 33 games for his side and scored only three goals and provided six assists.
“He wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should. When you’ve got 18-year-olds [playing], it’s not acceptable to me. I said that to Timo.. He’s a senior international, he’s a German international. In the moment we’re in right now, it’s not like we’ve got many options. I need everyone to at least be going out there trying to give the best of themselves. His performance in the first half wasn’t acceptable,” Ange had stated after the game against Rangers on Friday (IST).
Pressure is certainly building on the Aussie head coach as Spurs currently sit in 11th place in the Premier League table. Alongside poor outings in domestic competitions, the side has not managed to secure a win in their last three outings in the Europa League (One loss and two wins) which has seen them drop out of the automatic qualification spot as they sit in ninth place on the table.