LONDON: Cristian Romero added to the mounting crisis at Tottenham as the Argentinian appeared to take a swipe at the club’s hierarchy after apologizing for their latest dismal defeat.
Thomas Frank’s side were beaten 3-2 at Bournemouth on Wednesday to leave them with just two wins from their last 12 Premier League matches.
Tottenham are languishing in 14th place, with pressure building on Frank as he struggles to turn the tide in his first season in charge after arriving from Brentford.
With fans growing increasingly angry — some were seen arguing with players after the Bournemouth loss — Tottenham captain Romero took to social media to say sorry for his team’s plight.
The volatile center-back also hinted that Frank and the players should be backed publicly by the club’s powerbrokers.
Writing on Instagram, he said “other people” should be coming out to speak and added that they “only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.”
The 27-year-old later deleted that post but his replacement post was almost identical, omitting the lies comment but still seeming to take aim at Tottenham’s board.
Daniel Levy left his role as chairman in September and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham was only appointed in April.
Tottenham co-sporting director Johan Lange has been in place since 2023, while majority owners ENIC, run by the Lewis family trust, have rarely made public statements.
“Apologies to all fans of you who follow us everywhere, who are always there and will continue to be,” Romero said.
“We are responsible, there’s no doubt about that. I am the first. But we will keep facing up to it and trying to turn the situation around, for ourselves and for 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. They only show up when things are going well.
“We’ll stay here, working, sticking together and giving our all to turn things around. Especially at times like this, keeping quiet, working harder and moving forward all together, is part of football. All together, it will be easier.”
Romero previously defended Frank’s predecessor Ange Postecoglou in another social media post last year.
Postecoglou was sacked despite winning the Europa League last season to end the club’s 17-year trophy drought.
- Kudus out until March -
Romero appeared to support the Australian as he highlighted “many obstacles that always existed and always will exist” at the club.
Spurs manager Frank later said he and Lange had spoken to Romero on Thursday.
“I said it when I named him the captain that even though he’s an experienced player, he’s tried a lot, he’s still a young leader. And I think a lot of the things he’s done well on and off the pitch, I’m happy with,” said Frank.
“But also when you’re a young leader sometimes you make a mistake, of course it’s good to keep it internally.
“Johan and I had a good conversation with him this morning about everything, which we of course keep internally.”
Tottenham’s injury crisis, meanwhile, continues to increase with Rodrigo Bentancur suffering a hamstring injury at Bournemouth and Lucas Bergvall also forced off.
Frank, already without Mohammed Kudus and Dejan Kulusevski, told a press conference Thursday: “Kudus is a bigger one, to the tendon and quad, and don’t expect him back until after the March international break.”
