Tottenham's Negative Trend Continues, Postecoglou Blames Players

Tottenham Hotspur came home with one point from Rangers headquarters in the Europa League (Instagram/@spursofficial).

Tottenham Hotspur have not been able to get out of the series without a win. Most recently, they only took one point home from Rangers headquarters in the Europa League, Friday, December 13, 2024, early morning WIB.

Ange Postecoglou's team were saved by Dejan Kulusevski's goal which forced the match to end 1-1 on Ibrox.

After returning from Glasgow, Spurs means they have never won five consecutive times in all competitions, two defeats and three draws.

This situation clearly makes Postecoglou not free from pressure after previously having clashed with supporters because of the series of negative results.

However, now Postecoglou has returned the players as the culprit for failing to win.

In particular, Timo Werner's name was the target of the 59-year-old coach. The German striker was immediately replaced in the second half because his performance did not match expectations.

"Yes, he didn't play as well as he should," Postecoglou said after the match.

Postecoglou further compared the two Spurs players, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, who played better than Werner.

With the absence of senior Spurs defenders with injuries--Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Ben Davies--Gray filled the center-back position and received brilliant praise from his manager.

While Bergvall was included as part of the three-player substitution in the 75th minute which proved important in helping Spurs gain important points from their trip to Scotland.

Postecoglou pointed to the impact these teens had when asked if he needed Werner and other senior players to make a bigger contribution to the team.

"I think when you have an 18-year-old player, I think it's unacceptable to me."

"I said that to Timo, he is a senior player and a German national team player. Right now, we don't have much choice."

"I want everyone to at least try to give their best. His performance (Werner) in the first half is unacceptable."

"I don't know for sure (the cause of Werner's poor performance). It's not a big deal. As I said, we just want everyone, including him, to contribute."

"The thing is, we don't have enough players to rule out players if they perform poorly. We want them to play their part."

"As I said, especially senior players, when I asked young players to do a big job, I expect the level of performance of some senior players and today is not like that," said Postecoglou.

Werner has entered his second season as a loan player at Spurs from RB Leipzig. During the loan since the 2023/2024 season, the 28-year-old striker did make a minimal contribution.

Meanwhile, the draw in Ibrox put Spurs in ninth place in the Europa League standings 2024/2025, one place below Rangers, who finished last to qualify automatically for the last 16.

There are still two remaining matches for Spurs to aim for the top eight. In January 2025, they will travel to Hoffenheim and host Elfsborg.