Cristian Romero accused a mystery Tottenham Hotspur figure of only showing up “when things are going well, to tell a few lies” in a now-edited social media post.
It followed Spurs’ damaging 3-2 loss to Bournemouth on Wednesday evening, administered by a stoppage-time Antoine Semenyo goal.
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Cristian Romero calls out “lies” from Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy
A couple of Romero’s team-mates have supported his Instagram post (Image credit: Getty Images)
It didn’t end there, however, with an unhelpful image of head coach Thomas Frank emerging later in the evening of him inexplicably sipping from an Arsenal-branded coffee cup, at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium.
The cherry on the unpalatable cake came at around midnight following the game, with Romero turning to his five-million-strong Instagram following to vent his frustration.
“At times like this, it should be other people coming to speak,” a section of the original caption read. “But they don’t – as has been happening for several years now.
“They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.”
The centre-back has since edited the post, removing “to tell a few lies” but leaving the bulk of the message live, which was liked by team-mates Richarlison and Pedro Porro.
Speaking in a press conference the next day, Frank said: “He’s still a young leader. A lot of things he’s done well on and off the pitch, I’m happy with.
“When you’re a young leader, sometimes you make a mistake. It’s, of course, good to keep it internally. Johan [Lange] and I had a good conversation with him this morning about everything, and we keep it internally.”
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Thomas Frank will undoubtedly be checking his coffee cups in future (Image credit: Getty Images)
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, while it is unclear precisely who Romero is taking aim at, his strength of feeling is laid bare by the fact he hasn’t deleted the post, even after talks with his bosses at Spurs.
Such clashes between the captain and senior figures at the club are unlikely to do anything for squad harmony; a togetherness that will be needed if the north London club are to lift themselves out of their current predicament.
Frank publicly calling the post “a mistake” may also do him no favours moving forward, as Romero’s small edits suggest that’s not quite how he views it.
Romero is valued at €60m, according to Transfermarkt.