'The coach isn't the problem!' - Tottenham stars ripped to shreds by Toby Alderweireld with ex-Spurs defender especially critical of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven

Alderweireld told ESPN of his true thoughts on the crisis engulfing north London. With Tottenham sitting dangerously in 18th place on 30 points, two points behind 17th-placed West Ham, the Belgian did not hold back.

He questioned the squad's calibre. "I think you also need to start looking at pure quality. What do big players do? What do quality players do? That is to be decisive at important moments, achieve your level ... And that has not been happening all season. Players who were acquired for a lot of money but who nevertheless don't deliver and not in just one or two matches or a period, but throughout the whole season. You just have to conclude that they are not good enough in terms of quality."

Spurs have desperately cycled through managers to halt their slide, with Roberto De Zerbi recently arriving as the third boss of the campaign after Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor. However, the former centre-back believes the dressing room must face the music rather than hiding behind the dugout.

"Now you notice that the coach isn't the problem, it's really purely the squad," Alderweireld said. "The quality in the squad, the responsibilities of the players. You could always put another coach in charge, but you notice that they just don't deliver what they need to deliver. And that is ultimately just quality."

The former Belgium international was particularly stunned by the underperforming defensive partnership of Romero and Van de Ven. As a key figure in the club's past Champions League runs, he knows what it takes to succeed.

"I look at Romero, I look at Van de Ven... They just aren't reaching their level," he said. "Again, not for a period, but actually for an entire season. Then I also look at Romero who gets red cards too often, doesn't make the right decisions and therefore lets his team down."