There are many sources of frustration for Tottenham Hotspur fans this season, but arguably the biggest has been the lack of effort from the players, specifically the way in which so many highly paid and highly praised supposed stars and pillars of the team have consistently come up short this season when it matters most.
Although captain Cristian Romero is far from the only culprit - let alone even the worst offender - on the team for this, his performance in a relegation six pointer against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, which ended in a 3-0 defeat for Spurs, epitomized the crux of the problem.
After always demanding that the fans stick together for the club, Romero watched a beautiful display of unity unfurled before him and his teammates by the supporters, only for Romero and Tottenham to deliver a match that would even have General Custer cringing (perhaps somewhere on the set of Night at the Museum).
Cristian Romero doesn't put in the same effort
Romero's lack of effort on the second goal was truly appalling to see in a game of this magntiude with Tottenham's future on the line, and as rumors continue to swirl again of a move to the Spanish capital this summer, Spurs supporters can only wonder if, like Micky van de Ven, the Argentinian World Cup winner already has his heads swimming in the clouds of a glass of an alcoholic beverage along the coast of the Mediterranean.
Juxtapose the best player on the team's performance with Radu Dragusin's, and you can see the issue. While nobody will mistake Dragusin for being half the player that Romero is on the ball or as an athlete, for all of Dragusin's obvious failings as a player whose talent level is below that of a top Premier League club, he at least exhibits the effort that Tottenham should want to see as a bare minimum from their players.
He could be seen running hard to recover from mistakes, including his own, in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool, overcoming some bafflingly poor passes with effort. And it is wild seeing the sheer difference in how much star players like Romero try versus how much players on the fringes of the squad like Dragusin fight for the badge.
It is part of what is so lamentable about the current plight of Spurs. Here you have a guy who demands the most from the fans, wears the captain's arm band, and then shows up on Sunday and cannot be bothered on pivotal plays in a must win game. Again, Dragusin is in no way the player Romero is, but it's frustrating to see how the biggest names on the team sheet just do not put in the effort of their backup counterparts.