‘It wasn’t great’ – Postecoglou gives honest verdict on dismal Tottenham display against Alkmaar

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou admits his side were “nowhere near the level” in the 1-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar.

The result leaves their future in the Europa League hanging in the balance, despite several key players returning from injury.

Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven were unused substitutes in the match, while Dominic Solanke came on for the final stretch before picking up another knock.

It was a flat performance all over the pitch for the visitors, particularly from captain Heung-Min Son and James Maddison.

Postecoglou’s assessment was that “it wasn’t great” but his side must regroup for the return leg next week.

Speaking after the game, he said: “We’ll analyse it and have a look at the areas where we struggled with, but it’s fair to say it was nowhere near the level it needed to be.

“It wasn’t great from us tonight. Pretty much all facets of the game. We didn’t really get to grips with any part of the game. We struggled to gain any momentum with the ball, we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be without the ball.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of effort or attitude. I don’t think it is going out there and not trying, but, like I said, we didn’t really come to grips and have the right mindset to tackle an away fixture in Europe.

“It’s a big, big wake up call” 🚨

Spurs’ skipper Heung-Min Son speaks following his side’s defeat in Alkmaar, and says that his team this is their “big wake up call” ahead of the 2nd leg next week.

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“It is always tough and we obviously conceded the goal, which was a disappointing set of events, but even after that we didn’t really settle down into the game at all.

“You are going to face some pressure when you play away from home in Europe and weather the storm and get to grips with it, but we never really did so that was a disappointment.

“We’ve got to be a lot more aggressive than we were. We were just lacking a bit of aggression in everything we did. We were a little bit hesitant with the ball, hesitant in our pressing and we can’t be that way.”

Son echoed his manager’s words, despite creating zero chances, having no shots on target and completing no dribbles in the match.

He added: “It’s nowhere near where we should perform. It was very disappointing that we performed like this, including me. It’s a big wake up call because next week is the biggest game of the season.

“I really don’t think there was too much caution. It’s always tough to play away in the Europa League. We didn’t create anything in the first half, sloppiness, not performing the way we should.

“Everyone is very disappointed about the individual performance and the team performance, we have to look at ourselves. There is no excuses, we were not good enough. It’s just 1-0, it’s still not finished, and next week we have to be much better.”