ANGE POSTECOGLOU doubled down on his “assessment” of Timo Werner’s “unacceptable” display at Rangers and then told his squad: I don’t care about bruising your egos.
The Australian manager hooked off the German star at half-time of the 1-1 draw at Ibrox in the Europa League on Thursday night.
In his post-match press conference, Postecoglou slammed Werner, claiming: “He wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should”.
The fact his second-half replacement Dejan Kulusevski scored the equaliser with 15 minutes remaining only proved it was the right call.
Asked if any had any regrets the next morning about the public nature of the criticism, the former Celtic boss replied: “No, 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, 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.
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“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.”
Former Chelsea forward Werner is on-loan from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig but there does not seem any plans to cancel that arrangement in January because the club have such a long injury list.
Asked how had Werner, 28, responded internally to the comments, Postecoglou said: “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.
“This football club 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.”
This week, Argentine centre-back Cristian Romero lamented the lack of investment by the club in recent times during an interview with Spanish broadcaster Telemundo Deportes.
This followed Spurs’ disappointing 4-3 loss at home to Chelsea, but he later apologised for those remarks.
Asked if the Werner episode tied into a wider issue in the past at the club, Postecoglou said: “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.
“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 million excuses why we cannot be successful but if that’s what your clutch is, particularly in tough moments, then what’s the point? Move on then and go somewhere else.”
