Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank has refuted suggestions that Cristian Romero is leading a player revolt at the club, but remained coy on whether the Spurs skipper had been fined for comments made on social media.
Moments after the winter transfer window shut on Monday, Spurs captain Romero described the squad's lack of depth as "disgraceful".
In his press conference on Thursday, Frank repeated several times - "everything has been dealt with internally" - including to a question on whether he had been fined or disciplined.
When , following the defeat to Bournemouth last month when he appeared to blast the club's hierarchy for "lies" in a now-edited post on Instagram, Frank confirmed he had not disciplined his captain.
"It's the beauty of written text is you can read a lot into it," Frank said about the social media post. "And nobody really knows [what he meant], except Cuti [Romero] or the guys who have spoken to him. Everything is dealt with internally.
"It shows that Cuti is extremely passionate. He wants to win, do everything he can with his team-mates to achieve great things. You need to ask him next time you speak to him.
"If you want to know what he meant, you have to ask him. That's the right way to take that question.
"Cuti is a very passionate character and player, who will want to leave everything on the pitch. He's very ambitious and wants to win every single time. Sometimes when you are like that, it can become an outburst. It is something we have of course dealt with, and dealt with internally.
"There's a lot of ways of doing things. Cuti has been very good for us this season and in the past seasons. That's very important to be aware of.
"I wouldn't have done it. That's my message."
Romero has been linked with a move away from Tottenham, with Frank even admitting he did not know what the future held for the defender. However, he was adamant that the player has not been leading a revolt within the squad and confirmed he had not been stripped of captaincy.
"I don't know if I understand that question. I see a team that is fighting. The players are fighting.
"Leadership is many things. I'm 52 years old, I think I'm pretty good at leadership. Can I get better every single day? Yes. Do I make mistakes? Maybe not every single day but probably weekly.
"Romero is 27-years-old. He will still make mistakes going forward as a leader. Does he do a lot of good things? Yes.
"I think sometimes someone can make more than one mistake. We've dealt with it internally.
"It's one person speaking up, we don't know if he speaks on behalf of all the players. That's your perception. We don't know that, and I think that's fair to say.
"Secondly, we don't know if that's what he thinks, reading into a text. We have team and a squad who can compete."
In an Instagram post on Monday, Romero praised his side's ability to come back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw with Manchester City despite only having "11 players available" according to the Spurs captain.
Those numbers can be contested - Spurs brought on Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert and Pape Sarr off the bench in a clear indication the club had at least 14 senior players available for the fixture.
One theory put to Frank in his press conference was that Romero was frustrated that he was forced to play against City despite clearly being ill.
Romero was forced off at half-time of the City game with illness, with Frank admitting his captain was struggling with illness in the build-up to their previous game against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
"Social media, I can't get rid of it," said Frank. "It's what some people call the future, or whatever it is.
"One thing I do know: we all definitely put too much attention to social media. All of us. It seems like everything is written on social media is the truth.
"Everything we take: that's the truth. That's a challenge in general, overall. That's the way it is. We deal with it."
Asked if it was a worry that several Spurs played 'liked' the post on Instagram, Frank replied: "First and foremost, we don't know what a like means.
"There are so many words in the post: does that like [act as a reaction to]: 'well done guys, you did amazingly when I had to go off at half-time]'. If that's the like, then perfect."
Romero's apparent attack on Spurs' squad depth meant questions were put to Frank about whether he was happy with the transfer window just gone.
Spurs brought in Conor Gallagher and young left-back Souza to the squad - but failed in signing Antoine Semenyo and Andy Robertson, who joined Man City and remained at Liverpool respectively.
"I think we signed Conor Gallagher, which is a quality player for the starting XI," said Frank. "Of course no one is promised any position, but we signed a quality player and a young player for the future [in Souza].
"If you compare it to other Premier League clubs, that's very good. Where we are, it's ok. We tried to do more, but it was not possible for whatever reason.
"It is very, very important that we take good decisions in the calm - both for the long and short term.
"Of course we looked at loan options, we looked at longer-term options. It was not the case we wanted to sign five players."
Asked if he regrets letting Brennan Johnson join Crystal Palace - given no attacking replacements were brought in, Frank replied: "There are a lot of moving parts in every decision when you sell a player or sign one.
"If you have a 3-4-3, then you have five available players [in the frontline]. Then Richy [Richarlison] could be back so that's six. Then Mo [Kudus] is back so it's seven. So from that perspective then that's ok.
Frank then emplored fans to wait for another two windows to judge the club's hierarchy.
"It's a little bit unfair to judge them on a January transfer window. That's the only window they have been in charge," he said.
"Judge them after the next window and the following window. I understand there is a lot of scrutiny about the club. That's fair. But let's be fair."
