Football London

Tottenham Hotspur were handed a 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth with Cristian Romero taking aim at the club's hierarchy, with teammates showing support

Cristian Romero issued an emotional message to Tottenham Hotspur supporters after their defeat to Bournemouth, calling out "lies" from the club's hierarchy in a now-edited post. Spurs were handed a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Cherries in their Premier League clash at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday night.

Tottenham seemed to have rescued a point on their trip to the south coast after Joao Palhinha scored an equaliser for Thomas Frank’s side late on in the match.

However, Antoine Semenyo scored what proved to be the winner for Bournemouth in stoppage time, which handed Spurs yet another defeat.

Thomas Frank and Co. have now lost three of their last six Premier League matches, winning just one match across that run of form, which leaves the club in 14th place in the table.

Romero played the full 90 minutes for Tottenham and has now issued an apology to Spurs supporters following the loss, while also calling out the club’s hierarchy.

"Apologies to all fans of you who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be," Romero wrote in a post on Instagram to his 5.1 million followers. "We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that. I am the first.

"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.

"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."

However, a portion of the post has been edited. It originally read: "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."

The final sentence has been edited to remove the accusation of telling lies. The post from Romero received more than 75,000 likes and some comments from his Spurs teammates.

Pedro Porro wrote on the post (in a translated comment): "Amen. Keep going, brother. We have a lot of battles left."

Richarlison, meanwhile, also left a comment on the post, which featured just a clapping hands emoji.

Frank explained after the game why he thought Tottenham played well against Bournemouth despite the defeat, but did outline where he believes Spurs need to improve.

"I think it's very tough to sit here right now and we haven't got anything out of overall a good performance," Frank said.

"I think we started well, got up 1-0, conceding two goals on second phase set pieces. Especially the second one, we needed to do much better. But I really liked the character in the team and from the players, they gave everything.

"The second half, I think we were completely on top, and keep going even through disappointments and small setbacks, which we talked about before. Work very, very hard with the players and the team on that.

"Don't score inside the post from Richie [Richarlison], overturn the penalty, keep going, getting the equaliser, 2-2.

"After that, I think we are closer to winning than Bournemouth are. With the Micky [Vane de Ven] header, with all the good opportunities. So, to sit here and concede in five, six minutes of extra time is very painful, very tough. But that's football."

Here's every single word the Tottenham Hotspur head coach said after the Premier League defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday

Thomas Frank cut a frustrated figure at his press conference after Tottenham's 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday night in the Premier League.

Mathys Tel opened the scoring within five minutes, cutting in off the left flank after a backheel from Xavi Simons set him away and he stuck a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

The hosts levelled on 22 minutes when Evanilson found himself free to head home Marcus Tavernier's cross. Nine minutes before the break Bournemouth took the lead when another Tavernier cross from the right reached the unmarked Marcos Senesi and he pulled it across for the equally free Junior Kroupi to fire into the net.

Spurs substitute Richarlison sent a header against the post with 20 minutes to go of the game as the visitors chased an equaliser. They were awarded a penalty moments later after Micky van de Ven's long surging run ended with him tumbling in the box but referee Darren England was sent to his monitor and decided there was no foul as the Dutchman's leg hooked the defender's rather than the other way around.

Tottenham did score though on 78 minutes with a superb Joao Palhinha overhead kick after the ball bounced up in front of him from a corner.

Spurs went close to a winner with Van de Ven's header saved at full stretch by Dorde Petrovic but it was left to Antoine Semenyo to smash a low shot into the bottom corner in added time in is was expected to be his final game for the club before a move to Manchester City.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Frank after the game. Here's the full transcript from the press conference at the Vitality Stadium.

When you've had the chances to win it, it must be so frustrating to lose it at the death like that?

Definitely. I think it's very tough to sit here right now and we haven't got anything out of overall a good performance. I think we started well, got up 1-0, conceding two goals on second phase set pieces. Especially the second one, we needed to do much better. But I really liked the character in the team and from the players, they gave everything.

The second half, I think we were completely on top, and keep going even through disappointments and small setbacks, which we talked about before. Work very, very hard with the players and the team on that.

Don't score inside the post from Richie, overturn the penalty, keep going, getting the equaliser, 2-2. After that, I think we are closer to winning than Bournemouth are. With the Micky header, with all the good opportunities. So, to sit here and concede in five, six minutes of extra time is very painful, very tough. But that's football.

What did you make of the penalty being overturned?

I think it's a 50-50 situation.

Can I ask you about injuries with Bergvall and Bentancur coming off?

Yeah, of course. I don't know exactly the update. My initial thought is probably not the top with Lucas when he was off the second time. Was it Crystal Palace when he went off I think. So, yeah.

It's the first time we've been able to ask about Mohammed Kudus' injury since the scan, is it a bad one?

Sorry, we'll know more when we see each other tomorrow. We'll know more tomorrow.

We have to ask you about an unfortunate image before the game, holding a cup, it's got Arsenal branding on it, presumably it got passed it to you and you just didn't notice that it was on there? Unfortunately, it's not a good look.

Definitely not noticed it. I think it's fair to say that we're not winning every single football match so it would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal. Is there anyone thinking I've done that? All the staff has done it.

They've been in the changing room, the game before us. Its normal to take a cup, give me an espresso, I do that before every game. I think actually it's a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked a question about that.

I think we're definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to worry about me having a cup with another logo of another club, of course I'll never do that. That's extremely stupid.

Just on the winning goal, from a defensive point of view, how did you see that?

The easiest thing is to say we can never concede that. I think our goal against Sunderland, after I look that back, that we can never concede. This one, we can never concede it anyway. I need to watch it back with a little bit more calm-headed, of course, next time. Get everyone behind the ball. It's not like it's a transition where we have three, two, something looking absolutely hopeless.

This was a situation where they've given everything, but then you finish on an angle quite far out on the side of the goal, which is not going to score every single time, but it did today.

You mentioned about the two goals you conceded in the first half, they were almost identical in the positions the cross came from. Was that just a case of players not getting out to Tavernier, or was it a structural breakdown?

I think the second one is the biggest one. We need to accept sometimes the teams do something that is OK, but the second one we need to do better.

With the injuries, does this even further require the club getting into the market in January?

As I said, quite a few times we are in the market, the club is working very hard, they can. It's difficult in January, and we need to get players in that can improve the squad.

There seem to be some exchanges between players and the fans in the away end. Was there anything that troubled you, or was it just frustrations that you sort of understand?

I haven't seen that situation, that's one thing. I think it's fair to say everyone involved in Tottenham, players, staff, fans, everyone is a tough one to take today.

I think hopefully everyone can see how hard we worked to get everything in the right direction. And I think overall the performance was good, especially in the second half, in a game where we deserved to get more. That is extremely painful to be part of, so of course people are frustrated, I'm frustrated, so that's natural.

Thomas Frank is speaking to reporters at his press conference after Tottenham's 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday night in the Premier League.

Mathys Tel opened the scoring within five minutes. The young Frenchman cut in off the left flank after a lovely backheel from Xavi Simons set him away and he stuck a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

The hosts levelled the score on 22 minutes when Evanilson found himself free in front of Tottenham captain Cristian Romero to head home Marcus Tavernier's cross. Nine minutes before the break Bournemouth took the lead with a similarly set up goal. It featured poor defending from Spurs again from a Tavernier cross from the left. It reached Marcos Senesi at the back of the box and he pulled it across for Junior Kroupi to fire into the net.

Substitute Richarlison sent a header against the post with 20 minutes to go of the game as the visitors chased an equaliser. They were awarded a penalty moments later after Micky van de Ven's long surging run ended with him tumbling in the box but referee Darren England was sent to his monitor and decided there was no foul as the Dutchman's leg hooked the defender's rather than the other way around.

The goal did come though on 78 minutes with a wonderful Joao Palhinha overhead kick after the ball bounced up in front of him from a corner.

Spurs went close to a winner with Van de Ven's header saved at full stretch by Dorde Petrovic but it was left to Antoine Semenyo to smash in a low shot in added time from outside the box in what was expected to be his final game for the club before a move to Manchester City.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Frank after the game. Scroll down for his latest updates from the press conference at the Vitality Stadium.

Here are our Tottenham Hotspur player ratings after their last-gasp defeat at Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday

Tottenham fell to a dramatic 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on Wednesday night in the Premier League and here are our Spurs player ratings from the clash.

Thomas Frank made five changes to his Tottenham side to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday to inject some fresh legs into the starting XI with Xavi Simons back from his three-game suspension to join Lucas Bergvall, Randal Kolo Muani, Joao Palhinha and Djed Spence in coming into the team.

The visitors continued their Dr Tottenham tag as Bournemouth had not won since October, while Spurs went into the game unbeaten in three matches.

Mathys Tel got his reward after making back-to-back starts within five minutes. The young Frenchman cut in off the left flank after a lovely backheel from Xavi set him away and he stuck a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net.

The hosts levelled the score on 22 minutes when Evanilson found himself free in front of Tottenham captain Cristian Romero to head home Marcus Tavernier's cross.

Nine minutes before the break Bournemouth took the lead. It featured poor defending from Spurs again from a Tavernier cross from the left. It reached Marcos Senesi at the back of the box and he pulled it across for Junior Kroupi to fire into the net.

Substitute Richarlison sent a header against the post with 20 minutes to go of the game as the visitors chased an equaliser. They were awarded a penalty moments later after Micky van de Ven's long surging run ended with him tumbling in the box but referee Darren England was sent to his monitor and decided there was no foul as the Dutchman's leg hooked the defender's rather than the other way around.

The goal did come though on 78 minutes with a wonderful Palhinha overhead kick after the ball bounced up in front of him from a corner.

Spurs went close to a winner with Van de Ven's header saved at full stretch by Djordje Petrovic but it was left to Antoine Semenyo to smash in a low shot in added time from outside the box in what was expected to be his final game for the club before a move to Manchester City.

Here are our Spurs player ratings from the game:

Guglielmo Vicario

Couldn't do much about Evanilson's pinpoint header but did rush out to deny the Cherries striker four minutes later. Couldn't do much about Kroupi's close range effort and Semenyo's shot was right in the bottom corner. However, the Italian's kicking was poor. 5

Pedro Porro

Out of position on the left for the Bournemouth equaliser and gave Tavernier plenty of time to cross. Back on his normal side he was nowhere near anybody for the second goal. Picked up a yellow card for a late lunge on Evanilson the second half. Had a tough night. 4

Cristian Romero

Sent a header over the crossbar from a corner midway through the first half. Lost Evanilson for the hosts' leveller. Was poor defensively in the first half but was excellent in the second period with some big challenges and was a huge presence from set pieces in the Bournemouth box. Almost got Tel in for a late leveller. 7

Micky van de Ven

Played some sloppy passes in the first half. Thought he'd won a penalty in the second half only for VAR to intervene to suggest he had hooked the defender's leg rather than the other way around. Received a yellow card for his protestations. Had a header saved superbly by Petrovic in the final 10 minutes. 6

Djed Spence

Tried to make things happen down the left but didn't get near Tavernier's cross for the second goal. Some loose touches on the run in the second half. Not his best night. 5

Joao Palhinha

Solid enough until he brought something spectacular to the party with a terrific overhead kick equaliser. 7

Rodrigo Bentancur

At times he covers others so well but equally is so poor in possession, gifting the home side the ball in dangerous areas especially in the first half. Got better as the second period wore on before coming off injured in the final five minutes of normal time. 4

Lucas Bergvall

Hit an early shot from distance that the keeper gathered at the second attempt. Curled an effort just over the crossbar around the half hour mark. Worked hard but looked to pick up a groin muscle problem after an awkward turn and went off after punching the ground repeatedly in anger. 6

Xavi Simons

Back in the action after three games out and he immediately grabbed an assist with his backheel into Tel's run. Started the game really well but faded after Bournemouth's two first half strikes. 6

Mathys Tel

Started brightly and cut inside just five minutes in to hit a low shot into the far corner. Spurs' best player by a distance in the first half as he constantly raided down the left-hand side and gave Bournemouth problems. Put in some dangerous set pieces in the second half and had a late chance but was too tired to take it. 7

Randal Kolo Muani

Had very little service but did pretty much nothing when he got the ball. 3

Subs

Wilson Odobert

Brought some forward momentum after replacing the injured Bergvall. 6

Richarlison

Sent a header against the post and caused problems for the Cherries. 6

Archie Gray

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has endured another brutal moment with Arsenal ahead of the Premier League match against Bournemouth

Thomas Frank has been captured drinking from an Arsenal cup before Tottenham's Premier League clash against Arsenal. The Spurs boss was taking in his surroundings at Vitality Stadium before kick-off with a photo emerging that showed he was taking sips from a cup that had the Gunners' club crest on it.

The 52-year-old, who was appointed Spurs head coach in the summer, has faced a challenging first six months in the job with supporters not overly keen on his tactics.

He also made several interesting team selection decisions and made bizarre comments in his press conferences which have not gone down well at all.

That started almost immediately into his Spurs tenure when he went out of his way to heap praise on Spurs' biggest rivals before facing them in pre-season.

He said: "I think it is a great challenge, besides being our biggest rivals and the first north London derby outside the UK. It is also right now one of the best teams, I must say unfortunately, in the world. We also need to be honest.

“In that way it is going to be a big test, but it is more than a test as against Arsenal it is not only a friendly. Of course it is a game we will do everything we can to win.”

Tottenham won that match but things have regressed significantly since then and his latest blunder on Wednesday evening is unlikely to go down well at all with supporters especially as results on the pitch continue to be disappointing.

The Lilywhites have won just two Premier League games since early November with damaging defeats to Chelsea and Newcastle United arriving prior to that.

Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool had also beaten Spurs before 2025 concluded. Tottenham are actually on a three-game unbeaten streak following draws with Brentford and Sunderland after beating Crystal Palace.

That run of games looked set to be ending on the south coast however, with the Cherries coming from behind to lead after Mathys Tel's early opener. Evanilson and Eli Junior Kroupi were both on target before half-time with Lucas Bergvall going off injured after the break.

Spurs looked set for a chance to equalise when Micky van de Ven won a penalty but after a VAR review, that decision was overturned. Joao Palhinha later did level the contest with a superb overhead kick.

Spurs' woes were also present last weekend as Mohamed Kudus was withdrawn in the first half of the stalemate at home to Sunderland.

Dominic Solanke and Destiny Udogie are close to returning from injury, but did not feature in the squad to face Bournemouth. James Maddison meanwhile, is a long-term absentee.

Here's the Tottenham team that Thomas Frank has selected to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday evening

Thomas Frank has made five changes to his Tottenham side to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Bournemouth have not won since October but did beat Thomas Frank's men earlier in the campaign. Spurs are unbeaten while struggling to impress in their past three matches as they took all three points at Crystal Palace before disappointing stalemates against Brentford and Sunderland. The hosts are expected to have Antoine Semenyo in their team for the final time before his move to Manchester City.

With three games in six days, Frank has brought in fresh legs and while Mohammed Kudus misses out through injury, the Spurs head coach has Xavi Simons back from his three-game suspension and he appears to be playing on the left with Lucas Bergvall through the middle.

Archie Gray gets a rest with Joao Palhinha coming into the starting line-up, as does Djed Spence. Mathys Tel starts again with Wilson Odobert and Richarlison dropping to the bench for a rest as the matches come thick and fast.

Here's the team Frank has selected to face the Cherries.

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed they will pay tribute to Martin Chivers before the clash against Bournemouth.

Chivers' death, at the age of 80 years old, was confirmed today by the club. He is widely regarded as one of the finest ever players to pull on the Lilywhites' shirt in the north Londoners' history.

Born in Southampton, Chivers moved to White Hart Lane in January 1968 when he was signed by then Spurs manager Bill Nicholson. His £125,000 transfer fee was a club record at the time, but his performances would go on to pay back every penny and then some.

Over the course of 415 appearances, he netted 202 times - only Harry Kane, Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Smith and Son Heung-Min scored more. In a statement confirming his passing,

Tottenham wrote: "It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of our legendary former striker, Martin Chivers. We extend our deepest sympathies to Martin’s family, friends and former team-mates at this incredibly sad time.

"Our players will wear black armbands during this evening’s fixture against AFC Bournemouth. Rest in peace, Martin. One of the all-time greats."

Ex-Spurs star Steve Archibald also said: "Watched the great Martin Chivers before I became a pro. [He] was an amazing watch.

"He was like [a] Rolls Royce, so smooth in his movement, excellent in the air and a great finisher, but on top of all of that he was a really nice guy. Most sincere condolences to all of Martin’s family."

Tottenham stadium announcer Paul Coyte also offered his own tribute to Chivers. He wrote: "I’m absolutely devastated that my great friend and footballing hero Martin Chivers has passed away. He was a giant of a man, the best striker in the world in his day and I will miss him terribly.”

Chivers' finest period as a Tottenham player came when the club sold the iconic Greaves to West Ham United in 1970. Before his arrival, Greaves had formed an incredible partnership with Alan Gilzean.

When the club had to lean on Chivers' skills, the Englishman did not let them down, providing the goals and match-winning contributions Greaves made. The 1970-71 campaign saw him scores 34 goals in 58 games, including a brace in the League Cup final triumph against Aston Villa.

He also hit 21 First Division goals in a campaign which saw the club finish in second position. In the 1971-72 campaign, he then scored 42 times in 62 first team appearances and even scored eight goals in 11 UEFA Cup matches.

At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the "Do Not Sell or Share my Data" button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions.

Tottenham are looking to extend their recent unbeaten run as they travel to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

Spurs beat Crystal Palace before drawing with both Brentford and Sunderland and while the latter two stalemates brought frustration from the Tottenham fans, Thomas Frank's men will make their way to the south coast to face Andoni Iraola's Cherries with the best away record in the Premier League.

It looks likely to be Antoine Semenyo's final game for Bournemouth ahead of his move to Manchester City and the visitors will have to stop him signing off with a flourish. Spurs are without Mohammed Kudus after his injury against Sunderland and Frank's attacking options are slim after the decision to sell Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace in a £35million deal.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is at the match in Bournemouth to cover the game with all of the news before and after the 7.30pm kick-off. Scroll down for his latest updates from the clash at the Vitality Stadium.

Here's the Tottenham team that we reckon Thomas Frank will choose to face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Wednesday evening

Tottenham will be hoping to return to winning ways as they travel to Bournemouth on Wednesday in the Premier League.

Spurs are unbeaten in their past three matches as they took all three points at Crystal Palace before disappointing stalemates against Brentford and Sunderland. The first of the two draws was a drab derby while the second featured a more positive first half from Thomas Frank's side before their threw away two points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Now 13th-placed Tottenham are hosted by Bournemouth, who appear likely to have Antoine Semenyo in their team for the final time before his expected move to Manchester City.

With three games in six days, Frank needs fresh legs and while Mohammed Kudus will miss out, the Spurs head coach will have Xavi Simons back from his three-game suspension to provide some playmaker ability in the number 10 role.

The Dane could choose to add completely fresh legs into his central midfield with Archie Gray and Rodrigo Bentancur having played a lot of football. He may decide to give either or both of Joao Palhinha and Lucas Bergvall a start in the engine room.

Djed Spence will return to the team and Frank must decide whether to play Pedro Porro again or if Ben Davies is fit enough to play twice within such a short space of time after so long out with Spence on the right. Destiny Udogie is also closing in on a return from injury with Frank saying he was back training with the team but it might be a risk to throw him straight back into the starting line-up.

With options limited in the attacking slots, one player will be left out of those fit, or two if the Dane does not go with Bergvall as the 10 and Xavi out on the left. That could be Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert, Randal Kolo Muani, or Richarlison as there also has to be a point when the Brazilian gets a rest after his injury problems of previous seasons.

Here's the team we reckon Frank might go for.