Romero hails 'love' for Spurs duo after Postecoglou fumed change is 'inevitable'

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero leapt to the defence of two Spurs stars in the wake of Sunday's 4-2 thrashing by Liverpool at Anfield.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was critical of his side's performance afterwards as they slumped to a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat that dashed their chances of Champions League qualification.

Romero found himself being publicly defended by Postecoglou after clashing on the pitch with team-mate Emerson Royal during the defeat against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool and has now issued his own vow of support for two other colleagues.

Optimism surrounding Tottenham's end-of-season run-in has been extinguished after suffering heavy defeats against London rivals, Arsenal and Chelsea before travelling to the North West, with Postecoglou at times unable to hide his fury.

The Australian has taken responsibility for poor performances but has also issued no-nonsense warnings to underperforming players, with some unhappy with criticism after the agent of defender Radu Dragusin mocked the Spurs boss.

Romero has attempted to rally his centre-back partner Micky van de Ven and bit-part attacking star Giovani Lo Celso in a social media post reflecting on the weekend's defeat at Klopp's penultimate home game as Liverpool boss.

The Argentine replied to a picture posted by Lo Celso stating 'heads up, what a player' and told his team-mate: 'I love you brother, we need you.' in response to the original post.

Lo Celso has been a fringe player for the majority of the season after returning to the club in the summer following a loan spell at Villarreal and has managed just two goals in 20 appearances for Spurs across all competitions this season.

The 28-year-old is one of a number of players likely to leave the club in the off-season and Postecoglou explained after being beaten by Liverpool that buying and selling individuals is an 'inevitable' part of the journey.

'I don't know [what players will still be here] It's not about sort of, you know, I'm not trying to get people out,' he told Sky Sports.

'But if, if you look at whether that's Liverpool, you know, at the start of their journey, by the time they won it, how much the team has changed, it's only natural. I mean, Arsenal in a similar boat now.

'It's inevitable because you're going in a new direction. But that doesn't mean that guys here are going to be part of that journey.

'Just as we keep developing, as we keep improving, I'm sure there'll be, you know, others that come to the fore,' he added.