Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero has a reputation for being an aggressive defender with a taste for flying into tackles, but it is away from the pitch where his rash actions could cause a significant headache for his club.
Less than 24 hours after Spurs’ impressive comeback in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City briefly lifted the mood around the club, Romero created more drama. For the second time in the last few weeks, he appeared to criticise his employers on social media.
Now manager Thomas Frank and the club’s board will face a difficult decision over whether or not to sanction him for his latest outburst.
Following Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth on January 7, the Argentina international apologised to Spurs fans before appearing to point the finger at senior figures at 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,” Romero wrote on Instagram. “They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies. We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around.”
The 27-year-old landed another blow on Monday evening shortly after the transfer window closed. Due to an injury crisis, head coach Thomas Frank was forced to name four academy graduates on the bench against Man City, along with 19-year-old left-back Souza, who only arrived from Brazilian side Santos a couple of weeks ago. Romero was replaced at half-time by Pape Matar Sarr as he was struggling with an illness which also affected him during last week’s 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
“I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available — unbelievable but true and disgraceful,” the post said.
Romero did not directly name anybody, but it seems likely, given his previous messaging, that he was venting his frustration towards the club’s power brokers for what has happened over the last few weeks.
Spurs finished in the top eight of the Champions League league phase, and will progress automatically to the round of 16, but have not won a Premier League game since December and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa in the third round.
They tried to bring in Andrew Robertson and Antoine Semenyo during the transfer window, but Conor Gallagher was the only player they were able to sign who immediately improves the starting XI. Several key players are unavailable due to soft-tissue injuries, including Djed Spence, Pedro Porro, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison, while last season’s top goalscorer Brennan Johnson joined Crystal Palace for £35million.
Last week, Frank admitted that because of these injuries, the squad was weaker than at the start of January. It’s not difficult to see why a player may be frustrated by the situation, particularly having been through similar last season.
Spurs are still reeling and trying to find their feet after a dizzying amount of change at executive level over the last 12 months, which includes the departures of executive chairman Daniel Levy and chief football officer Scott Munn, with the Lewis family reasserting control of daily operations. In January, Fabio Paratici agreed to join Fiorentina less than three months after he had returned to the club full time as co-sporting director alongside Johan Lange.
Spurs have failed to build upon the momentum generated by winning the Europa League in May and find themselves languishing near the bottom of the Premier League for a second successive season.
It’s clear from the reaction to Romero’s posts that many Spurs fans see the Argentine as a hero for being unafraid to hold the club to account. It was the same in the aftermath of a damaging defeat to Chelsea in December 2024, the centre-back made comments which were interpreted as a criticism of Levy, who was still in charge at the time.
“You have to realise that something is going wrong; hopefully, they realise it,” he said in an interview with the Spanish broadcaster Telemundo Deportes. “The last few years, it’s always the same: first, the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it’s always the same people responsible. Hopefully, they realise who the true responsible ones are, and we move forward because it’s a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year.”
Last summer, he described former head coach Ange Postecoglou as “a great person who deserves the best” and added, “you paved the way despite the many obstacles that always existed and always will exist.” Romero uploaded this tribute on social media a couple of hours after Spurs announced Frank as Postecoglou’s successor. It felt like a dig at the club’s decision to replace Postecoglou with Frank.
Regardless of whether Romero’s latest comments ring true to fans, they will have put Frank in a difficult position. They could deepen the disharmony within the club at a time when Frank is already under considerable pressure. The issue has become a distraction from Xavi Simons and Dominic Solanke’s inspired performances against Man City, and the topic will dominate Frank’s press conference on Thursday before this weekend’s trip to Old Trafford to face a resurgent Manchester United.
The Dane may well share his captain’s frustration at the lack of January signings, but Romero surely cannot repeatedly publicly criticise Spurs and escape punishment. It would send an inconsistent message to the rest of the squad, given Frank has spoken on multiple occasions about improving the ‘culture’ of the club. How must Yves Bissouma, who was left out of the squad for August’s UEFA Super Cup penalty shootout defeat to Paris-Saint Germain due to persistent lateness, feel watching his team-mate avoid facing the consequences?
And what message does all this send to players like Micky van de Ven, who Spurs want to tie to a longer-term contract?
After Romero’s post-Bournemouth comments, he had a meeting with Frank and Lange. They decided not to fine him. Frank then praised Romero in a press conference and said, “When you’re a young leader, sometimes you make a mistake.” But for how much longer can Spurs continue to turn a blind eye to Romero’s online outbursts?
The problem for Frank is that Romero is one of the squad’s most important players. He appointed Romero as captain just before the start of the season and the defender signed a new long-term contract a few days later. He has come to this team’s rescue on multiple occasions in recent months, including in draws against Newcastle United and Burnley when he scored stoppage-time equalisers.
Any attempt to discipline Romero could backfire disastrously and have a negative impact on the dressing room dynamic, not to mention how badly fans would likely react. Yet, if Frank, Lange and Vinai Venkatesham do not take any action (again), they could be accused of lacking authority.
Turning your anger towards your own club in such a public manner rarely ends well, and this is Romero’s fourth such ‘offence’ in the last 14 months. In the 2000s, Roy Keane left Manchester United after a “dynamite” interview on the club’s in-house television channel, while William Gallas was stripped of Arsenal’s captaincy after criticising his team-mates.
Nobody wants either of those outcomes with Romero at Spurs, but we await the repercussions. That is, if there are to be any at all.