Tottenham suffered a heartbreaking stoppage-time defeat to Bournemouth.
The north London club’s eighth defeat of the season started with them taking a fifth-minute lead through Mathys Tel. Bournemouth replied back from Evanilson’s goal, before Eli Junior Kroupi got their noses in front. Joao Palhinha levelled matters for Spurs with 12 minutes left after leaping high to score a stunning bicycle kick.
However, Antoine Semenyo gave the Vitality Stadium a fine parting gift before his big-money move to Manchester City with a last-gasp wonder strike for a 3-2 win for the Cherries. It saw Spurs drop to 14th in the table and the scrutiny increase on Thomas Frank.
Cristian Romero drops cryptic message on social media after Bournemouth defeat and later edits it
Tottenham’s defensive organisation has been all over the place for several weeks now. They have leaked goals at an alarming rate and conceded three to Bournemouth on Thursday. The Lilywhites found it difficult to cope with Bournemouth’s fast, aggressive and direct attacking moves.
After Palhinha made it 2-2, Thomas Frank’s side failed to manage the game and left themselves exposed to a counter-attack that the Cherries punished ruthlessly in the 95th minute via Semenyo. Being the skipper and leader of the backline, Cristian Romero, in particular, had a forgetful evening at the Vitality Stadium. The Argentine international was caught out of position for Evanilson’s leveller and failed to track Kroupi’s run for Bournemouth’s second goal.
Following the 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth, Cristian Romero posted a cryptic message on his official Instagram account, seemingly calling out some of the Tottenham hierarchy. He wrote:
“Apologies to all fans of you who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be. We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that. But we will keep facing up to it and trying to turn the situation around, for ourselves and for the club.
“At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, 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.
“We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around. Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together, is part of football.
“All together, it will be easier.”
Richarlison and Pedro Porro showed support for Romero’s statement.
Richarlison left the clapping emoji under his Tottenham skipper’s cryptic post on Instagram.
Porro commented: “Amen. Keep going, brother. We have many battles ahead.”
However, a while later, Romero edited his post. Adding “I am the first” (to take responsibility), and removing the “lies” part. The sentence ended with, “They only show up when things are going well,” with the “to tell a few lies,” now erased. Check out the edited post below:
Who is Romero actually targeting?
While it is not categorically clear who Romero is targeting in his statement, it seems evident that the skipper is unhappy with the current Tottenham hierarchy.
The Argentine certainly feels that the Lewis Family and the key decision-makers of the club should be taking responsibility for the current situation the Lilywhites find themselves in, instead of hiding away until the team starts performing well again on the pitch. His statement has also been endorsed by his Spurs teammates Richarlison and Pedro, echoing a similar sentiment against ENIC.
This is another classic example of the disconnect at White Hart Lane. Romero has shown his displeasure with the current Spurs top officials, while some of his Tottenham teammates got entangled with the travelling fans after the full-time whistle at the Vitality Stadium. All in all, it is a complete mess at Tottenham and feels Thomas Frank will end up paying a premium for everything.
