Son brands Tottenham’s defeat to Fulham as ‘unacceptable’

Tottenham captain Son Heung-Min says players need to 'look in the mirror' after an 'unacceptable' 3-0 defeat at Fulham cast doubt on their qualification for the Premier's top four League on Saturday.

Victory would have put them ahead of Aston Villa in the guaranteed Champions League places, but Spurs were sluggish and failed to score in a league match for the first time this season.

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“It's very disappointing and very frustrating. Everyone needs to look in the mirror and say 'it's my fault,'” Son said.

“It wasn't good enough. We didn't put in the effort we put in this season. The performance, the attitude wasn't good enough. Everyone needs a wake-up call.”

The performance was all the more surprising given Tottenham's clinical 4-0 win at Villa last weekend.

“In the Premier League, if you are not ready, you are punished,” added the South Korean striker. “Aston Villa are an incredible team, as are Fulham. If you don't give 100%, you are punished. You don't get three points for free.

“It's two steps back. We now have to take a step forward. It's unacceptable, including me, it was unacceptable.

“We represent Premier League teams, we represent Tottenham. It wasn't close to what we did this season. It's very sad to see that. The fans don't deserve that. Losing that was very hard .”

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said he was particularly disappointed with his side's second-half performance.

“To be fair to the players, it's the first time this year where I feel, especially in the second half, that we just didn't do it… We're in the position we're in because that every week we were really, really competitive in every aspect of the game and even in our losses I felt like we hit some targets in terms of effort and competitiveness and I thought that was lacking today and it was disappointing,” Postecoglou said.