Ange Postecoglou tells Tottenham stars he’s ‘SICK’ of excuses and doesn’t care about ‘bruised egos’, after Timo Werner jibe, as he hits back at his own player Cristian Romero’s ‘mythical’ comments - sports news foot

Ange Postecoglou admitted he’s ‘sick’ of hearing excuses about Tottenham’s struggles and told any players who is not up for the fight to leave the club.

The Tottenham boss said he wasn’t bothered about ‘bruised egos’ in his dressing room after he slammed Timo Werner’s performance against Rangers as ‘unacceptable’.

‘We’re in a fight here,’ said Postecoglou. ‘I’m not going to go around worrying about bruised egos. We want to achieve things, we want to be successful and we’re down to the bare bones in players.

‘If someone is fit and able to contribute and someone who feels they need a bit extra [motivation], they are probably not the right person. If they can’t give me extra right now, that shows me where they are at.

‘We are in a difficult situation because of where we are squad wise. We have 15 fit players. If you want to make excuses there’s millions of excuses of them why they can’t be successful. If that’s you, move on, go somewhere else.

‘Last night wasn’t about Timo Werner wasn’t about him. It could have been someone else. Other players could have given more. It’s not about Timo, it’s about the situation we are in. It could be anyone. It’s not about bringing someone down or blaming someone.’

Ange Postecoglou admitted he’s ‘sick’ of hearing excuses about Tottenham’s struggles

Postecoglou was heavily critical of Timo Werner after the German was taken off at half-time

Postecoglou also criticised Cristian Romero’s recent comments that suggested Tottenham’s lack of success was down to investment by club owner Daniel Levy in a throwback to the age-old

‘I am sick of that too,’ said Postecoglou. ‘That is an excuse for me. That is why, Romero’s comments – I think that is an excuse. We are here. If we think some mythical thing exists that prevents success, then change it – what’s the point otherwise. If you don’t buy into it, don’t come here.’

After the Chelsea loss on Sunday, Romero was asked if Tottenham were suffering over limited spending and a lack of depth. He told Telemundo Deportes: ‘The truth is, I would say no comment, but…

‘Manchester City competes every year, you see how Liverpool strengthens its squad, Chelsea strengthens their squad, doesn’t do well, strengthens again, and now they’re seeing results. Those are the things to imitate.

‘You have to realise that something is going wrong, hopefully, they realise it. The last few years, it’s always the same: first, the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it’s always the same people responsible.

‘Hopefully, they realise who the true responsible ones are, and we move forward because it’s a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year.’ 

Backing Postecoglou, he added: ‘He’s a great coach. We saw it in the first season. In this second one we’ve suffered a lot of injuries.

‘Players are the first one to be criticised, then if we lose 10 games, the staff can be changed, but nobody talks about what is actually happening.

Tottenham have won just once in their last eight matches after their 1-1 draw with Rangers

The Spurs boss also he hits back at his own player Cristian Romero’s ‘mythical’ comments

‘We are very happy with this staff, me and my colleagues. We love how they work and the football they try to play. We’ll try to move on quickly.’

Spurs are 11th in the Premier League after a run of just one win in their last five matches. 

They will seek to return to winning ways when they visit relegation-threatened Southampton on Sunday night.