Son issues warning as Spurs fall flat against AZ Alkmaar in last night’s Europa League Round of 16 first leg.
Son warns Tottenham defeat at AZ is ‘big wake-up call’ with season on line.
As Ange Postecoglou acknowledged that his team lacked the “right mindset for an away game in Europe,” Son Heung-min stated that Tottenham’s Europa League loss to AZ must serve as a “wake-up call” for their aspirations of taking home trophies this season.
Lucas Bergvall’s own goal gave the Dutch team a slim lead going into next week’s second leg in north London, while Spurs only mustered one shot on goal in the first leg of their last-16 match. Dominic Solanke, who was later forced off himself, took Son’s place in the second half. Postecoglou stated that he hoped the most recent issue was merely a knock. The England striker had just returned after a seven-week absence due to a knee ailment.
Son, the captain of Tottenham, was extremely critical of his team’s performance and urged them to change their attitude for what he dubbed “the biggest game of our season next week.”
“This was nowhere near the level we should be in terms of our performance,” he said. “This is very disappointing, including from myself, and it is a big wake-up call ahead of the biggest game of our season next week. It is tough playing away from home in the Europa League. We were sloppy and not performing how we should. Everyone is disappointed and we have to look at ourselves. No excuses and it was nowhere near good enough. It is just 1-0 and the tie is not finished. Next week we have to be much better than we were tonight.”
Postecoglou acknowledged that the deficit could have been greater had AZ taken their chances. “We didn’t really come to grips and have the right mindset to tackle an away fixture in Europe,” said the head coach. “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. It’s only 1-0 so I guess that’s a positive in that we didn’t let the game get away from us.”