The scenes at the end of the 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday were all too predictable.
Metres away from the travelling Villa supporters, Ollie Watkins revelled in their FA Cup third-round win against Tottenham Hotspur in front of the home side’s Joao Palhinha, who shoved the England international away. That much seemed justified, given Watkins had made a beeline to deliberately celebrate in front of the Portugal midfielder. But once Palhinha escalated the situation, following Watkins and pushing his head towards the striker, it invited Villa players Lamare Bogarde and Morgan Rogers to join in, inciting a scuffle.
For the second time in four days, a narrow Tottenham loss ended in post-match drama — the kind of incident that does not reflect well on anyone.
“I don’t think so,” Spurs head coach Thomas Frank replied in his post-match conference when asked if his players are losing control. “I guess you have seen the situation through? I just saw it, to be sure I saw what I saw.
“Of course, it’s all about keeping a cool head. The players gave everything out there, (but) losing a tight game, season not going perfect, and I think Ollie is very provoking. The way he is going down to celebrate in front of the Villa fans and he is walking into Joao… he can just easily walk around.
“I think (for) everyone that has been in a competitive nature, that is difficult and can trigger things.”
With emotions also high after losing to a stoppage-time Antoine Semenyo goal against Bournemouth in the Premier League last Wednesday, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Palhinha were involved in an angry exchange with travelling Spurs fans after the final whistle.
Tottenham are in a poor run of form and playing and coaching staff alike are feeling the pressure, so expressions of frustration are to some extent natural and excusable, but there’s a continued and underlying sense of ill-discipline plaguing Frank’s first season in charge.
The first publicised incident occurred before the Premier League season had even begun.
Yves Bissouma, months after an excellent performance as Tottenham won the Europa League final, which seemed to breathe new life into a stagnant Spurs career, was left out of the new head coach’s squad for the UEFA Super Cup match against Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in August due to persistent lateness.
“Bissouma isn’t here because of disciplinary reasons,” Frank said. “He has been late several times. The latest (was) one too many. We need to give love and have demands, but there have to be consequences. There’s been a consequence. We will follow it up when we get home and park it for now.”
In that sense, Bissouma is a unique case.
He has frustrated players and coaches alike over his three-plus years at the club due to his timekeeping issues, with team-mates having private discussions with the 29-year-old Mali international midfielder at various points to try to enforce the importance of reporting for work on time, according to a source close to the dressing room who wishes to remain anonymous to protect relationships. But even with the opportunity for a clean slate under a new manager, he could not make it through pre-season before Frank lost his patience.
But he’s not the only one who has fallen short.
After a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Chelsea on November 1, a scoreline that does not reflect Tottenham’s ineptitude that day, Van de Ven and Djed Spence caused a stir by ignoring Frank’s attempts to keep the duo on the pitch to applaud the fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Though they lost, Spurs ended that day fourth in the Premier League, a point off second place, it was an incident that sparked a string of negative post-match reactions from the players.
There have also been two occasions this season when a player who has been in line to start the game involved has reported late for the pre-match meeting and been removed from the line-up as a result.
Learning how to manage players who are important on the pitch but have not met the expected standards off it is a challenge Frank is still adapting to, and the long-time Brentford manager is trying to address it by actively penalising misconduct.
But the issues are possibly even more pronounced during matches.
Only Brighton & Hove Albion have been shown more yellow and red cards combined this season than Spurs (see table below), but while they are yet to have anybody sent off, it has happened to Frank’s men twice.
Incidentally, both dismissals came in the same match — the 2-1 home defeat against Liverpool on December 20.
Xavi Simons received the first, an initial caution that was upgraded to a straight red after the VAR official advised referee John Brooks to go to the pitchside monitor to review a late challenge he made on his Netherlands team-mate Virgil van Dijk. Forward Simons is still adapting to English football after arriving from RB Leipzig of Germany for €60million (£52m/$70m at the current rates) in the summer, and has a habit of timing his tackles late, but there was no obvious malice or intent to harm the Liverpool captain.
The second involved club captain Cristian Romero, who kicked out at Ibrahima Konate in second-half stoppage time while his team were pushing for an equaliser, receiving his second caution of the game. For acting “in an improper manner by failing to promptly leave the field of play and/or behaving in a confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after being sent off”, the centre-back was awarded a further one-match ban by the FA, which he served in the Villa defeat on Saturday.
“I think any player needs to control their emotions and be cool-headed,” Frank said in his post-Liverpool press conference. “It’s not only because you’re a captain that you need to be exceptionally cool-headed. That’s also always good, of course. We’re talking about a very passionate player that’s been very good for this club and team for many years.”
For all his quality and pedigree as a World Cup and two-time Copa America winner with Argentina, expecting Romero to ever be “exceptionally cool-headed” feels wishful, at best.
He was given the armband after Son Heung-min left for LAFC of Major League Soccer in the summer — arguably a reflection on the lack of natural and experienced leaders in Frank’s likely starting XI than a ringing endorsement of his captaincy credentials — and has assumed the role differently. Son was the reserved type of skipper who preferred to lead by example on the pitch rather than by making rousing speeches, but Romero is an outspoken and fearless character. That was evident at half-time in that match against Bournemouth, where he delivered a team-talk that inspired his colleagues to a better second-half performance.
Points: One for a yellow card, three for a red card
Then, hours after that loss on the south coast, Romero released a statement on Instagram where he appeared to criticise the Tottenham hierarchy. Part of it 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.” He later edited the wording, removing the “to tell a few lies” bit.
It’s not the first time Romero has criticised the board. In December 2024, he complained to Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo Deportes about the club’s lack of investment compared with the money Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea were spending.
Within the fanbase, many praised the sentiment — Tottenham sit 14th in the 20-team Premier League just past the campaign’s halfway stage and have now been eliminated early from both domestic cups this season, and there are sensible questions about the club’s direction under new leadership and ownership. Others believe it’s a side to his captaincy that needs to be toned down.
Frank and co-sporting director Johan Lange — set to be Spurs’ sole sporting director once Fabio Paratici departs for Fiorentina in his Italian homeland after the current transfer window closes in just over two weeks — had a “good conversation” with the 27-year-old that Thursday morning. Frank described the incident in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Villa cup tie as a “mistake” on Romero’s part, indicative of his status as a “young leader”. He said they continue to have “a good relationship”.
Still, it was yet another incident this season related to off-field conduct that Frank would rather not have to address when sitting down with reporters, and it’s seemingly only a matter of time until the next one occurs. The Dane is wisely trying to avoid a media circus around Tottenham’s discipline and conduct, and it’s a spiral he’s striving to maintain a handle on.