Ange Postecoglou has stood by his “assessment” of Timo Werner’s performance in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at Rangers but called on other senior players to join him in the fight to lead the club through choppy waters.
Injury-hit Spurs were able to fight back through Dejan Kulusevski’s 75th-minute leveller to leave Ibrox with a point and stay ninth in the Europa League after six matches.
Postecoglou insisted the display of Werner, who was replaced at half-time, “wasn’t acceptable” and reiterated his view before Sunday’s trip to Southampton in the Premier League, but admitted the RB Leipzig loanee will be required this weekend with nine players unavailable.
“It wasn’t criticism. It was assessment,” Postecoglou said.
“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 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.
“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.
“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.”
Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur started at Rangers, but will both serve suspensions at St Mary’s to increase the number of absentees for Postecoglou.
He called on other senior players in the squad to step up ahead of a crucial week for Tottenham, with Manchester United set to visit on Thursday in the Carabao Cup before league leaders Liverpool are in town on December 22.
Postecoglou added: “We are in a fight, we’ve got a limited number of players to call upon and We’ve got some big games that can set up our season.
“We just need people to have that level of commitment and application to find our way through. As much as I am talking about Timo, I am talking about the whole group and all of us right now.
“This is not about one person, it’s what we’re in and the situation we’re in right now. We’ve got a limited amount of players, we’re really stretched but we’ve got big games that can set up our season.
“It’s a great challenge. I want people who are up for that challenge.”