turn will either sink or steer his Tottenham tenure after awkward Son moment
It was a big call from Ange Postecoglou and it's either going to be a moment that woke up his Tottenham players or began to sow seeds of discontent.
Spurs flew away from Glasgow with a point from their Europa League clash at Ibrox but also serious questions about their senior players' ability to battle and fight against a motivated Rangers side pushed on by their vocal fans.
Postecoglou's threadbare squad means he has to take any opportunity to rest players when he can or risk adding further absentees to the huge list. He chose Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke and Pape Matar Sarr to sit out this game and in one fell swoop removed three of his biggest battlers from the spine of the team.
For he needs battlers not bottlers, and what was left behind bordered on the pathetic at times among the remaining senior players when it came to showing much strength in their individual duels.
Overall, Tottenham won just 36% of their ground duels in the game. Timo Werner was the worst culprit, losing every single one of the five duels he actually attempted to go for.
Few among the starters did much better though. Captain Son Heung-min won only one of his five and lost both of his aerial duels. Rodrigo Bentancur, back in the midfield amid his domestic suspension, could only win two of his six ground duels, Pedro Porro three of his nine and Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson both came out on top in only two of their five ground battles each.
Porro and Udogie were both constantly left exposed by Johnson and Werner's lacklustre attempts to track back. Johnson has played a lot of football and was ill earlier this week so might hang on to that as an excuse. Werner has not played enough football to be providing so little in a first half of football.
Even Spurs' most powerful player and only fit centre-back, Radu Dragusin, came out on top in just one of his four ground duels but did triumph in half of his six aerial battles. Eighteen-year-old Archie Gray alongside him won one of his three ground duels and two of his four ones in the air.
It's worth pointing though with the young makeshift centre-back pairing that they did plenty more at least, with Dragusin making three interceptions, four clearances, one block and seven ball recoveries. Gray completed one tackle, seven ball recoveries, two blocks and four clearances.
So when football.london asked Postecoglou after the game why he had taken off Werner - the worst of the bunch - at half-time, he used it to break a cardinal rule he had stated only 28 hours or so earlier, again to football.london.
You might remember that when speaking about Cristian Romero's backing of him and criticism of Tottenham's hierarchy and effectively chairman Daniel Levy, Postecoglou had said on Wednesday night: "Cristian realises what he said...a lot of what he said was good, some wasn't right and shouldn't have been done in public.
"We deal with these things in our own four walls. There's always issues we need to deal with. The same way I wouldn't criticise a player or anyone else, we shouldn't be doing that in a public sense."
Yet on Thursday evening, Postecoglou ripped that up as he tore into Werner's dreadful display.
"He wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should," he said. "Yeah absolutely [I need more from him]. 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."
When asked how the Champions League-winning attacker had taken his half-time rebuke, Postecoglou did not particularly care.
"Don’t really know. It’s not really of great concern. We need everybody including him to be contributing. because we don’t have the depth to leave people out if they’re performing poorly," said the Australian.
"We need them to play their part. Especially the senior guys. When I’m asking younger guys to do massive jobs. I expect a level of performance from some of the senior guys and today wasn’t that."
It was a big call from Postecoglou, either forgetting what he had said the previous evening or deciding that a message needed to be sent regardless.
Werner has contributed a handful of useful moments this season - with three assists and a goal in 19 appearances - but ultimately the decision to extend his loan at the club from RB Leipzig has had little to back up what appeared to make some sense at the time as a squad bolsterer.
What fallout comes from this criticism is down to the Tottenham players, the ones who, with Levy, always ultimately decide the fate of the countless frustrated managers who have walked through the revolving door at Spurs.
The squad gathered around Werner this season when he was getting criticism from the fans and media, but this performance was as much about effort as it was the lack of quality in his play.
Werner failed in all three of his dribbles, constantly handing the ball to the opposition, he sent his only two crosses to Rangers players and curled his one shot well over the crossbar.
After hearing Postecoglou's Werner criticism, the Tottenham fans unhappy with it - many likely having berated the German for much of the year themselves on social media - pointed out that the Australian could equally have criticised the likes of Son, Johnson, Porro and many more who struggled in the Ibrox noise.
Yet Werner was the worst of the bunch. The stats show that and it wasn't hard to spot. His display only makes you realise how much game time the gifted 17-year-old Mikey Moore would have got during this period had he not been hit so hard by a virus.
Postecoglou has tried the supportive, protective approach with Werner and now he's trying the other way to shake him up. On Friday he doubled down on what he called an "assessment" of Werner rather than a criticism, and said others certainly weren't blameless but the German was fresher than most.
"No [I don't regret it], it wasn’t criticism. It was assessment. If we played poorly, we played poorly. With Timo it wasn’t about whether he played well or not. It was a difficult game last night. I’m asking 18-year-olds to do some massive 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 you need to rise to, to help the team," he said.
"He didn’t reach that. I think me taking him off at half-time was a statement enough. The same way I won't be hiding behind poor team performances, the same with and no different for the players or anyone else. It wasn't criticism, it was just an assessment of his performance and on a really challenging night for us, which we knew going into it, it needs to be better."
When asked how Werner has responded since, Postecoglou took a swipe at anyone in his dressing room that's not up for the struggle ahead.
"I've got no time for that sort of stuff anymore. We’re in a fight here, collectively we're in a fight. I’m not going to go around worrying about people’s bruised egos," said the Australian.
"This football club we want to achieve things and be successful. We’re down to the bare bones in players. If there’s somebody in the dressing room who’s fit, able to contribute but who feels he needs something extra in this moment, he’s probably not the right type.
"I need guys who, and we had some last night, understand the situation we're in. We've 15 fit players and in some positions we've only got two players. I’m not going to go around trying to get extra out of people. If they’re not able to give extra now, it kind of gives me an indication of where they're at."
What the future holds for Werner at Tottenham remains to be seen. Whether he will return to Leipzig next month likely lies in the German club's hands rather than Spurs' as it often does with loan moves.
The threadbare north London club aren't particularly in a position where they can allow players to leave their squad, but if Werner was to be replaced then it's a different matter. Even if Werner did remain at the club, he could find himself out of the Europa League squad to make room for new signings or Djed Spence if the right-back sticks around himself.
Yang Min-hyeok will be adapting to Tottenham life this month before the 18-year-old winger is able to officially train and play from January 1. There might even be a case for recalling Manor Solomon from Leeds, if possible, if Tottenham cannot secure anyone Postecoglou wants in the January market.
One thing is for the certain. The option to buy Werner for £8.5million might as well be 10 times that figure, for it's looking about as likely to be triggered as the German is to score 10 goals this season.
With just one win in eight matches, Postecoglou said he needs those who are up for the fight and Kulusevski also used that battle analogy after the game.
“Football is a war. You have to be prepared 100 per cent. If not, you’ll be eaten alive," said the Swede. “You have to do everything in your power to come to the game ready. It’s a lot of games for us, a lot of injuries, so that’s when you have to do even better outside of the pitch, take care of the body and you have to help each other on the pitch.
“You have to play like it’s very important to help your team-mates. Nobody is perfect but if you stay strong together, you make one tackle, when someone makes a mistake, you help him, and then you can go a long way. We still have to improve and do everything for each other."
Kulusevski did his part after at first struggling to find the rhythm of the game as he stepped up with the equaliser. It was a clinical finish across Jack Butland after Spurs' best move of the game, with his fellow substitute Solanke eventually finding him with a ball across the Rangers box.
For Kulusevski it was his 41st consecutive match for Tottenham and he's played 84 of the past 86 matches for the club. You will not find him shirking the challenge despite his workload.
"I’m doing everything I can to be competitive and be the best every game, every training session. It’s a lot of sacrifice but I’m willing to pay that. I’m feeling good, I’m feeling ready. It’s never easy to come into a game and change it and score, so I’m very happy for that," he said.
"I’m very, very hungry to take this situation from the last weeks out of this and help the team as much as I can. I believe there is a lot of talent in this [squad]. It’s important that everybody is doing their maximum to help us go forward."
The problem for Postecoglou is that his leaders have been either absent or inconsistent this season so younger players like Kulusevski have needed to step up.
Guglielmo Vicario is out for what will be three months with his fractured foot. Romero just popped in to say a 14-minute hello before heading off again with a new injury. Son has struggled to make much of an impact at all this season and Maddison has not dispelled any notion built up over his career that he is a streaky player.
Both Son and Maddison are terrific players on their day, with the South Korean having long been one of the game's stars and saved Spurs with goals on countless occasions, but neither fall into the category of warrior leader, inspiring the troops to victory.
Son was never part of the leadership group under any previous Tottenham manager yet suddenly became Postecoglou's captain as the team's star name and it's in moments like this where he needs to step up.
One video on social media appeared to show Postecoglou saying something passionately in the direction of his skipper as the teams walked off the pitch on Thursday after the game and Son was just staring ahead a couple of paces in front. It's a short clip and the head coach had been speaking to Dragusin moments before so there may have been more to it, but it's not a good look for the 32-year-old or Postecoglou's connection with his emotional captain in that moment.
Leadership is an area that Postecoglou needs to address if this group of players don't end up seeing him off beforehand.
The Spurs boss refuses to accept players looking for excuses when it comes to the historic flakiness of the club over the years.
"I'm sick of that. That's an excuse for me and that's why even with Cristian Romero's comments, I just think that's an excuse. At the moment I'm here, I take responsibility. These players, we're here. If we think something mythical exists in this club that prevents success then change it. What's the point otherwise? Don't come here. I just don't buy into that," he said.
"At the moment we're in a difficult situation because of where we are squad-wise and team-wise. You either embrace this challenge. If you want excuses there are a million of them. There are a millions excuses of why we cannot be successful but if that's what your crutch is, particularly in tough moments, then what's the point? Move on then and go somewhere else."
His senior players were the ones who struggled on a chilly Glasgow night. Yves Bissouma was weak at times in the centre of the pitch and while Rodrigo Bentancur brought some calm and assurance with his control of the ball in the first half he once again faded badly in the second half.
The Uruguayan was dribbled past four times. He should be fresher than everyone, yet the lack of match sharpness has impacted him more than expected.
Pedro Porro at 25 was the older head of the young back four, yet was all over the place at times. Like Bentancur, he was dribbled past four times.
Rangers' goal early in the second half was terrific in creation and execution with Hamza Igamane half-volleying home a superb, deep curling James Tavernier cross from the right. Yet Spurs could have done more in the moment. Johnson didn't track back with Tavernier, Udogie didn't step forward to close him down and Porro was left trailing in Igamane's wake.
Porro and Udogie have played so many minutes in recent weeks that surely Djed Spence at least needs to get his first start for Tottenham on Sunday at St Mary's and you know things are bad in terms of squad depth when Sergio Reguilon could also come into contention, a player who was meant to have left in the summer.
The two Tottenham teenagers - Gray and Lucas Bergvall - at least were positive aspects of a tough night.
Gray took everything thrown at him in his first ever competitive start as a centre-back and battled away. There was the odd tough moment, particularly being turned inside out by Cyriel Dessers in the final minutes with Fraser Forster bailing him out with a crucial save.
On the whole though, Gray didn't look as out of place as an 18-year-old midfielder with a year of senior football under his belt should. Alongside him Radu Dragusin attempted to talk him through the game as much as possible, as did Forster behind.
"He's 18, it's a big experience for him. I thought he handled himself really well," Postecoglou told football.london. "We're asking him to do something that as an 18-year-old in his first year at this level, to play in an unfamiliar position in such big games, I thought it's outstanding what he's doing."
Postecoglou went even further in his press conference the next day, joking that the next Spurs manager would get the benefit of what he was doing with Gray. Tottenham fans will no doubt remember Martin Jol blooding Gareth Bale, only for Harry Redknapp and Andre Villas-Boas to reap the rewards of a superstar.
"You don't want to [use the teenagers as much] by design but it will bear fruit for us for sure. If we had a smoother season they probably wouldn't have played as much fair to say," said the Tottenham head coach.
"The fact they are playing and I really like the way they're going about it for us in a difficult period. Like I say, Archie has been asked to do things as an 18-year-old in unfamiliar positions away in Europe and in the Premier League and the way he's handled it is outstanding.
"You think to yourself if he can get through this period and keep growing then what's he going to be like in three or four years' time. The next manager will love him!"
Gray has the air of a captain in the making in the distant future and all of these experiences, allied with his ability, will only add to his authority in being able to speak to others in the squad.
His stint at the back may be shorter than expected after scan results showed Ben Davies' hamstring injury is not as bad as first thought.
"Ben, that was a week ago and it’s not as bad as we thought. There is a chance he’ll be back, hopefully, before the new year. So, that was positive," said Postecoglou. "Again, initially we were a bit worried but you need to give it a week to settle down. The latest information I got this morning that it’s nowhere near as bad as we thought it was and hopefully a quicker turnaround."
He added on Friday morning: "Lucas is really growing into it. We can see he's starting to really feel comfortable at this level. He's showing a real maturity for an 18-year-old and I think that's hugely positive for us. By design you don't want to throw young players into it but I think we'll get enormous benefit from it for sure."
Postecoglou was asked again on Friday about not signing another centre-back at the start of the campaign.
"Look, I could have had six centre-backs but name me one club that has six centre-backs and has enough depth," he said. "It is impossible. I know people say you should have signed one. But how many centre-backs can I have? The reality of it is if all of them are fit and three aren’t going to play and you just have them on your roster.
"Every club goes into a season with three or maybe four centre-backs which we did this year and unfortunately for us three of those four are injured.
"I’ve seen clubs lose one centre-back and people call it an injury-crisis and it is because your centre-back pairing is crucial. In the top teams, your pairing is a constant and teams that don’t have those constants you really struggle even when you miss one. We are missing three. Of course, it is going to affect us and our ability to play the way we want to. You can’t have six centre-backs in a Premier League squad of 25."
In the midfield, Bergvall made it three consecutive tidy cameos in a row in the number six role and he looked hungry and eager to get as much of the ball as possible. It was all done despite being ill as well, as Postecoglou told football.london that the young Swede was set to start the game in Scotland.
"I thought Lucas was excellent when he came on. He was due to start tonight but wasn't feeling well today. He was a bit under the weather today," he said.
"We had to keep him on the bench, but that's a massive positive for us. Those two as 18-year-olds to be already contributing and experiencing these things will be of enormous benefit to us."
Bergvall's performances in the number six role could see him get the chance to start his first Premier League game on Sunday if Postecoglou wants to balance his midfield. The young Swede needs to bulk up and get stronger but he is the tidiest, most confident option to collect the ball from the defence in tight situations with both Bissouma and Bentancur suspended.
Using Sarr in the role could require both Maddison and Kulusevski to play either side and create a more attack-minded midfield. It's a big ask of Bergvall, but he's earned the opportunity.
For Postecoglou the key is to get his team at least playing the football he wants regardless of their physical state.
"We can't dismiss the situation we're in at the moment. We're very limited at the moment in what we can do from a team perspective, there's a lot of players playing a lot of games and they're giving their all but they're going to lack a little bit of sharpness as we cannot give them a rest," he said.
"Within that context it's about making sure that there's some basics in our game that we push through. You look at the Chelsea game and elements of that were brilliant for us in the way we played our football.
"The ability to play at that level is still there. It's just last night, and we've got to keep it in context, it's a difficult venue, it's always difficult for any team going there in Europe historically to get a result and you need to fight. I just felt there were times we weren't as committed to winning seconds balls and doing a lot of things you need to do when you go to Ibrox. We lost those battles which allowed them to sort of get into the game."
He added: "The flip side of that is when you're 1-0 down there it's awfully hard to turn around because the volume of the stadium goes up by 100 decibels and it's hard to claw back.
"I thought we showed real character. Dom, Deki, Lucas and Pape all helped when they came on for sure in helping us achieve that. As I said after the game, in the context of Europe a really good point for us. It sets us up really well for the last two games, the next game is not for a while so with a bit of luck we'll be in a much better position squad-wise to tackle them.
"We know if we win those games we'll finish in the top eight and probably look back on that point last night as valuable to that."
Tottenham need to find their mojo again for a huge week at the club. The match at bottom-side Southampton is followed up quickly by a Carabao Cup quarter-final at home against an also stuttering Manchester United side and then Premier League leaders Liverpool come to town before Christmas.
With just four wins away from home in 2024 ahead of the trip to Southampton, Postecoglou was asked whether an attacking style of play made it more difficult to get results on the road.
"No, not necessarily and again I get people think attacking football means you never defend or don’t care about defending, but it is more about your intent when you go into every game," he said.
"Our intent is to go and try to win every game, not to treat games in a different manner. Now what is the opposite? The opposite is you go into every game trying not to lose? Well, that is not guarantee success either.
"The only guarantee of success is when you get it all right and that’s the difficult thing. That’s the reason only one team wins the competition and sometimes it is fine margins between who wins it and finishes second, third or fourth.
"As I keep saying, you play attacking football and people say you have to concentrate more on defence. You play defensive football and they say you need to concentrate more on attack.
"Really? I know that. Every manager knows that and it’s about what do you want to base that on. Your underlying principles and getting to that space. We want to be an attacking side, we want to be an aggressive side but it doesn’t mean we ignore the defensive side of the game because that kind of mentality doesn’t exist in anybody because ultimately we all want to win."
The north London outfit need to start winning again otherwise the club's revolving doors will start turning once more. There were chants on Thursday night from the travelling Spurs fans calling for the chairman's head as they waited to be let out of Ibrox and that is when Levy's trigger finger usually begins to itch.
Postecoglou will be well aware and he needs his players to be up for the fight ahead to ensure the whole often repeated Tottenham Hotspur cycle doesn't start again.
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