Tottenham Hotspur star Guglielmo Vicario has slammed his side for lacking a desire to fight after their deflating 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace.
The north Londoners were handed a massive reality check at Selhurst Park as Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first-half strike put Ange Postecoglou’s side to the sword.
Tottenham had built up some momentum, heading into the game with consecutive wins in all competitions, but they lacked a spark in the final third that allowed Palace to pick up their first win of the season.
Spurs weren’t able to call on captain Son Heung-min, who missed out with a knock, and his absence proved costly.
Speaking after the game, Vicario pointed out that his team were punished for not showing they wanted it more than Palace in the London derby.
“They fight, and I think we lacked that today,” Vicario said (via BBC).
“We are disappointed because we have to fight. We play good football, but maybe sometimes we lack the desire to fight. They show a real desire to fight for something.
“I just want to focus on us and what we didn’t do as a team. I think we lacked a bit of energy and to be better than them.
“We have to take this personally, and it has to hurt us a lot. Football gives us an opportunity again, and we have to be ready for the cup.”
On whether Son’s absence proved costly for Spurs, Vicario said: “He is the captain, but we have a big squad and we have to deal with that.
“We have to be able to win games without Son. We lacked in something, not in football, but attitude and fight.”
Defeat to Palace means Spurs have now lost two of their four north London derbies this season after falling to a 1-0 defeat against next-door neighbours Arsenal in mid-September.
They’ll have to pick themselves up and prepare for another huge clash as they host Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Stats from Sofascore.com
