Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has given his reaction after Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal clashed during Spurs’ 4-2 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday.
The two Tottenham defenders squared up at half-time with Spurs 2-0 down at Anfield and the South American pair had to be separated by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Things then went from bad to worse for Postecoglou’s side as Liverpool made it 4-0 in the second half and although Spurs rallied late in the game, the north Londoners were beaten 4-2 in another damaging defeat – their fourth in a row.
Postecoglou was asked about the incident after the game and said: “Look, the lads care. They’re frustrated, they’re not happy with the current situation and they want to address it. It just shows they care so I don’t need to address that.”
The Australian was also asked about the clash in his post-match interview with Sky Sports and said: “They care, mate. They care. I’d hate to think that they were skipping into the tunnel holding hands. They care and when they care that’s a good thing.”
And on the performance itself, Postecoglou said: “Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea weren’t great, not only the performance but the results as well.
“At least today I actually thought we played more like ourselves and we at least endeavoured to be the kind of team we want to be.”
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Tottenham are still seven points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa after Unai Emery’s side were beaten at Brighton, but Spurs’ hopes of making the Champions League are now very slim with just three matches left to play – including a meeting with Premier League-chasing Manchester City.
Villa have just two games remaining, but are nine goals better off than Tottenham.