Former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson believes that there is something going on behind the scenes that has caused defender Jan vertoghen to drop out of the Tottenham team under Mauricio Pochettino.
Vertonghen has been a surprise omission from the Spurs squad for the opening Premier League game against Aston Villa, despite not being injured. The Belgian did return to the bench for the trip to Man City but failed to make it onto the pitch.
When asked about Vertonghen's absence following the game against Villa, Pochettino explained his decision.
"I want to play the players who deserve to play, who I think to deserve to play and who are playing well," he told Sky Sports.
"My decision today was to play Toby. If the players didn't play today, they need to work hard to get their opportunity.
"There is not any issue [with Vertonghen] but my decision today was play with Toby and Davinson [Sanchez] to provide a good balance for the team."
Vertonghen played 34 times in all competitions for Spurs last year, and was considered as one of the top performing defenders in the team.
Despite the claims from Pochettino that there is no issues between him and the defender, Robinson claims that there must be something going on in order to cause a dramatic change in the faith being put in the player.
"There's clearly a problem there because a player like Jan Vertonghen doesn't get left out of the squad and then on the bench. There must be an issue there," Robinson told Sky Sports.
"He's an experienced pro who will have his opinions in the dressing room, whether him and Pochettino have clashed I don't know, it's not through lack of ability he's not playing, because he was almost an ever present last year.
"There's clearly an issue, a clash of personalities or he's said something or done something to upset the manager."
