Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou was unbothered by Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal's on-field squabble in their 4-2 Premier League loss to Liverpool on Sunday.
The Lilywhites' Champions League hopes suffered another crushing blow at Anfield, where their losing streak stretched to four matches despite a short-lived fightback in the second half.
Spurs deservedly found themselves 2-0 down at half time thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson, the latter of whom netted right on the stroke of the break as he latched onto Salah's parried shot.
Romero and Emerson both appeared to take issue with one another for their roles in the goal, and the pair seemingly squared up after the whistle sounded, although the row did not transcend into a physical altercation.
Nevertheless, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario saw the need to step in and pull Romero away from his teammate, who was still lambasting his colleague verbally while the Argentine was being led away by Vicario.
"I don't mind that kind of behaviour but they should have that aggression in their defending"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 5, 2024
Roy Keane comments on Emerson Royal and Cristian Romero seemingly arguing while walking off at half-time pic.twitter.com/GD6dJq7Vvs
Postecoglou saw "nothing wrong" with Emerson, Romero quarrel
Tottenham went on to concede twice more through Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott, before Richarlison and Son Heung-min gave the visitors hope of an astonishing comeback in the dying embers, but their strikes amounted to nothing.
Postecoglou was unsurprisingly quizzed on the Emerson and Romero argument in his post-match press conference, but the Spurs boss insisted that their anger was only fuelled by their "care" for the club.
"I didn't see it but a few people mentioned it. As I've said to others, they care. It hurts them. They're just not going to be happy with the current situation and because they care they want to improve," football.london quotes Postecoglou as saying.
"There's nothing wrong with that as long as it's done in a constructive way. Irrespective, the players I've been told who were involved they care. They want to change the situation and not accept it."
Postecoglou's sentiment was echoed by former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, but the Sky Sports pundit implored the pair to employ such aggression in their defensive duties instead.
© Reuters
"I generally don't mind that kind of behaviour, because it means you care about the game, but they should have that type of aggression in their defending and in their play," Keane added.
"Spurs have been very very poor, I don't mind that but you've got to bring that aggression to your general play, which we've not seen from Spurs."
Emerson in particular endured another difficult afternoon at left-back for Tottenham, who are without both of their natural options on that side in Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie due to injury.
Nevertheless, Postecoglou has resisted calls to start the quick Micky van de Ven at left-back instead of Emerson, which would then see January signing Radu Dragusin partner up with Romero in the heart of defence.
The Tottenham boss also commented on Emerson's display as Spurs remained fifth in the Premier League table, seven points below Aston Villa with a game in hand on their fellow Champions League chasers.
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