Tottenham forward Timo Werner was axed at half-time vs Rangers
Tottenham Hotspur were held to a 1-1 draw by Rangers at the Ibrox in the Europa League in what was a decent point in the end for Ange Postecoglou’s team.
The North Londoners struggled in the first half as Rangers took the game to the visitors, who struggled to cope with the hostile Ibrox atmosphere. Ange Postecoglou’s side were toothless going forward, failing to trouble Jack Butland throughout the opening 45 minutes.
Sensing things weren’t going as per the plan, the Tottenham gaffer decided to make a substitution at the interval. He took off Timo Werner for Dejan Kulusevski, who scored the vital equaliser to help the visitors pinch a point away from the Scottish side.
Timo Werner royally struggled to make his presence felt, with heavy touches and lack of reading of the game seeing him lose possession time and again. He was ineffective on the ball and lacked the flair to trouble Rangers right-back James Tavernier, so it was no surprise to see his name pop up in red on the substitution board after the break.
-> 3 takeaways from Tottenham v Rangers UEFA Europa League clash
Speaking after the game, Ange Postecoglou slammed Werner’s display against Rangers, terming it “unacceptable”.
“When you’ve got 18-year-olds, it’s not acceptable to me,” Postecoglou was quoted by BBC Sport.
“I said that to Timo, 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 and trying to give the best of themselves.
“His performance in the first half wasn’t acceptable.
“We need everybody, including him, to be contributing because we don’t have the depth to leave people out if they perform poorly.
“I expect a level of performance from some of the senior guys, and tonight wasn’t that.”
Big Ange didn’t hold himself back in front of the media when assessing Werner’s awful first-half performance, which led to his substitution. Indeed, it was an extremely lacklustre and unenergetic display from an experienced forward who should be doing a lot more during the difficult period the club are going through.
It wasn’t just the German’s defensive frailties which let the Greek-Aussie down at Ibrox, but his overall display too. He barely threatened the home side’s defence, gave the ball away for fun in the left-wide role and barely won a 1v1 battle. Therefore, it is no surprise that Werner was axed by Postecoglou at half-time.
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Luckily for Big Ange, Kulusevski, who replaced Werner, came up with the rescue act. It looks as though the Tottenham boss is safe for now. But then, how can can he continue to rely on the imperious Swede to bail him out?
