Tottenham captain Cristian Romero has admitted his team-mates need to stop conceding "stupid" goals in a stark assessment following the Premier League defeat against Nottingham Forest. Igor Tudor's side looked to have turned a corner after drawing 1-1 with Liverpool at Anfield and recording a victory against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Against Forest, who are also battling relegation, Spurs had an opportunity at home to move away from the drop zone and push one rival closer to it. However, Vitor Pereira's side overwhelmed them in north London. Strikes from Igor Jesus, Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi confirmed the defeat. After the match, Romero made his thoughts perfectly clear.
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When questioned about how to account for the display, he told Sky Sports: "Nothing. This season is tough, especially in this moment, another loss at home. The first thing for the fans is thank you for today because they stayed with us. The most important thing for us is the last seven finals.
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"Now, everyone goes to their national teams, and when we're back here [we] understand the situation is tough, but the most important thing is to play games like finals. It's like this, it's very tough and it's [been] a bad season. Honestly, me, the first responsibility. Football is sometimes like this. The most important thing is staying together."
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Spurs approached the fixture with hope after the draw with Liverpool and the victory over Atletico. While the latter made little difference on their Champions League tie, having lost the first-leg 5-2, many thought it would at least give Spurs some momentum.
However, when Tudor's side fell behind, they never looked likely to overturn the scoreline and win their first Premier League match of 2026. Romero was questioned about how Spurs failed to reproduce those performances which saw him lament a persistent issue they have encountered.
He said: "When we played here against Atletico Madrid, fantastic game. The first half [vs Forest] was good but in the second half we lose confidence, lose the ball, concede another stupid goal. This is difficult but now it is finished. It is painful and a bad but the most important thing is go to national team and then back here for seven finals."
The outcome saw Forest overtake Tottenham and climb into 16th place on 32 points with Spurs remaining on 30 and just one ahead of West Ham United following their loss to Aston Villa. Igor Tudor has now presided over five defeats from a possible seven matches, with pressure unquestionably intensifying on his position. He was not available to field any questions about the display or his future following the match due to a family bereavement, with assistant head coach Bruno Saltor taking his place.
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He addressed questions on injuries, Tudor and the performance, but expressed his conviction that Tottenham can reverse their fortunes despite just one victory from their last 16 league fixtures. Saltor said: "I thought for 44 minutes in the first half we were the better team. And again, I think any mistake that we make, any small detail goes against us and we're not able to capitalise on the opposition's mistakes.
"And probably that affected the team. And that's our job as coaches, to keep helping the players. And as you can see, the players, they care and they are 100% trying their best. But at the moment, it's not enough. We need to minimise any mistakes because we know that we're going to concede a goal."