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Son claims Tottenham let entire Premier League down by quitting against Fulham

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Son reacts during Tottenham
Son reacts during Tottenham's shock performance and defeat away to Fulham.

Shock results will always provoke extreme reactions but there was a surprising level of anger in the voice of Son Heung-min as he fronted up after Tottenham ’s worst performance of the Ange Postecoglou era.

The Spurs captain is so often a calming, level-headed presence and that is what made his damning immediate appraisal so striking. Son went as far as suggesting that Spurs let the entire Premier League down with a performance that committed the cardinal sin of quitting when behind.

“We haven’t given everything, including me, which is really painful,” he said. “We have to bounce back. We cannot just give up in games. I am devastated, disappointed, frustrated. As captain of this club, I want to apologise to the Tottenham fans, they don’t deserve that result, they don’t deserve that performance.”

That Spurs surrendered six days after their most impressive result of the season – a 4-0 win away to their main challenger for fourth in Aston Villa – merely served to highlight the bizarre nature of this collapse at the Cottage.

In every area they were second best. And it was hard to understand why the intensity was so lacking. Son said “it was unacceptable” as he blamed the collective rather than individuals. No one emerged from the mess with any credit. "Everybody has to look in the mirror and say 'It is my fault,’” he added. “Everyone needs a big wake-up call.”

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That they have a fortnight to stew on what went wrong and, more importantly, ensure it does not happen again could make things worse. “Everybody has to come back firing,” Son continued. “You go to the national team, you represent your country, but also you have to think about it, you are representing Spurs and the Premier League.”

There have been other difficult results this season - a last-gasp collapse away to Wolves, conceding four at Brighton - but those carried mitigating circumstances.

Tottenham had a week to prepare for Fulham and they were riding the high of their Villa win. The only notable absentee was Micky van der Ven, and his replacement Radu Dragusin was the most expensive signing made by any Premier League club in the January transfer window at £27m.

Son claims Tottenham let entire Premier League down by quitting against FulhamAnge Postecoglou's Tottenham were beaten 3-0 at Fulham (Getty Images)

Dragusin showed some early promise in his first start for the club but with little more than an hour on the clock he was left dizzy by Rodrigo Muniz, who is in the form of his life with seven goals in as many games.

“I don't think it's a game to talk about individuals, because whether it's Radu's first game or Sonny's 500th, it doesn't really matter,” Postecoglou said. “What matters is that as a group we just didn't reach the levels we need to in order to compete. So for us, there's obviously a lesson in that.”

They even drew a blank for the first time in the league - although there were chances. The most notable fell to Timo Werner, who contrived to shoot wide from four yards under no pressure with Spurs already three behind. Still, that summed up their evening.

Maybe it was a one-off, a significant bump on the Postecoglou highway. But if Spurs are to develop into challengers next season, they must learn that at the top of the Premier League a single outlier can be ruinous.

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Alan Smith

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