Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou criticises Timo Werner’s performance in Rangers draw

GLASGOW – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou singled out forward Timo Werner for criticism after substituting him at half-time in their 1-1 Europa League draw at Rangers on Dec 12.

“He wasn’t playing at anywhere near the level he should be,” the Australian lamented.

“Timo’s first-half performance was not acceptable to me. I told Timo that he’s a German international, that I need everyone to be trying to give their best and this wasn’t an acceptable example.”

The 28-year-old struggled to get into the game, losing the ball repeatedly. His poor performance was epitomised by a loose touch that ran out for a throw in when the team were on the attack.

Postecoglou replaced Werner with Dejan Kulusevski, who ended up getting Spurs’ equaliser after Hamza Igamane had scored for Rangers.

The Scottish giants looked the better side for most of the game at Ibrox Stadium. Despite avoiding a third successive defeat following their 4-3 English Premier League loss to Chelsea on Dec 8, the Spurs boss was unhappy about his side’s performance.

“I expect a lot more from the senior guys, but we weren’t anywhere near our best,” he said.

“We’re in a period of games that we’re grinding through at the moment. But in the context of where we are in Europe and with our squad fairly depleted by injuries, it was an important point.”

Spurs are ninth in the Europa League standings. They are looking to finish in the top eight to go straight through to the knockout stages.

But Postecoglou, who returned to familiar territory after coaching Rangers’ fierce rivals Celtic for two years, did praise his substitutes and the team’s reaction in a hostile environment.

“Rangers are difficult to play against, especially here at Ibrox on European nights,” he added.

“With the nature of the competition and the atmosphere, not many teams can come here and win so you expect a tough game.

“When they score straight after half-time, the energy levels obviously go up and it’s going to be a tough one to claw back. But I thought we worked our way back in well. I thought the substitutes made a difference.”

Elsewhere in the Conference League, Chelsea made it five wins in five matches in the competition with a 3-1 victory against Astana in Almaty.

A much-changed Blues side battled the frigid conditions in Kazakhstan to all but guarantee a top-eight finish in the league phase, which, like the Europa League, would ensure automatic qualification to the round of 16.

Chelsea sit top of the standings on 15 points, and they wrapped up their win in the first half through goals from Marc Guiu (two) and Renato Veiga.

Marin Tomasov pulled one back for the hosts on the stroke of half-time but Enzo Maresca’s side rarely looked troubled in the second half as they closed out the win.

“It was a solid performance,” said the Chelsea manager. “We knew it was quite cold. We tried to adapt quickly. The players did fantastically with the weather conditions and the long journey yesterday. Overall, I’m very happy for the players.” AFP, REUTERS