Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario accuses his OWN team-mates of ‘lacking the desire to fight’ after they slumped to surprise 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace

Guglielmo Vicario accused his teammates of lacking the desire to fight after Tottenham became the first team to be defeated by Crystal Palace in the Premier League this season.

‘They fight and I think we lacked that today,’ said Vicario. ‘We are disappointed because we have to fight. We play good football but maybe sometimes we lack the desire to fight. They (Crystal Palace) showed a real desire to fight for something.

The Spurs keeper went over to a half-empty away end at the end of the game to apologise and admitted that Ange Postecoglou‘s side must do better.

‘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 (against Manchester City on Wednesday),’ said Vicario.

Spurs were without Son Heung-min due to injury but Vicario stressed that they must learn to deal without their captain.

Spurs slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace after Jean-Philippe Mateta’s second-half goal

Vicario believes Spurs lacked energy and wants the side to take the setback ‘personally’

‘We have to be able to win games without Son. We lacked in something – not in football, but attitude and fight,’ the 28-year-old added.

Meanwhile, Postecoglou admitted that his side failed to deal with the nature of the game.

‘It was a game which turned into, and it didn’t surprise me, a bit of a battle. Lots of stop, starting and standing around. We didn’t deal with that really well at all,’ said Postecoglou.

‘We didn’t get to grips with the nature of what was transpiring out there. They dealt with it better than we did.’

Under Postecoglou, Spurs have gone behind at some point in 14 of their 24 away Premier League games and this was their ninth defeat in those 24 games.

The Spurs boss insisted that the goal they conceded ‘had nothing to do’ with playing out from the back after Micky van de Ven lost possession deep in his own half and Jean Philippe-Mateta scored.

‘It was a poor goal to concede, it had nothing to do with playing out from the back. That can happen,’ said Postecoglou, who called on his team to be more clearheaded.

‘It was a game we needed to stay composed in and not fall into the trap of trying to play the game that ultimately Palace wanted to play,’ Postecoglou added.

‘We need to be a lot more clear-headed about how we deal with that rather than falling into the trap of doing what we did today. It was a big game for Palace. 

‘They were always going to be desperate to get a win and that happens. I just thought there was a lot of standing around today which I hate and I’ve said that before. But I guess it’s just the nature of the way the game went.’

The stopper apologised to the away end after the final whistle at Selhurst Park on Sunday

Ange Postecoglou criticised Spurs for failing to get to grips with the nature of the game

Palace boss Oliver Glasner admitted that victory eased the pressure but the Austrian insisted he was never concerned about his job, with victory lifting his side away from the relegation zone.

‘We are a very good team and it’s very difficult to beat us,’ said Glasner. ‘The biggest difference today was the bravery with which we played. 

‘We have to show it again in three days against Aston Villa. Regarding the intensity and the mindset, this is the benchmark.’