Cristian Romero, the Tottenham captain, has been spoken to by head coach Thomas Frank and sporting director Johan Lange after appearing to criticise the club’s board for staying silent during the team’s recent struggles. The defender posted a strongly worded message on Instagram following Wednesday’s defeat at Bournemouth, which initially accused the hierarchy of telling “lies” before being edited to remove that phrase.
What remained in the post was an apparent call for the Spurs directors to speak up. “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. “They only show up when things are going well.” The original version had added: “to tell a few lies.”
Since Daniel Levy stepped down as chair in early September, a new leadership team has been running the club, with Peter Charrington as non-executive chair and Vinai Venkatesham as chief executive. The club is owned by the Lewis family through a trust. Frank said he and Lange had a “good conversation” with Romero on Thursday, adding: “When you’re a young leader sometimes you make a mistake… It’s good to keep it internally.”
The defeat leaves Tottenham 14th in the Premier League with five points from their last six matches. Footage from Bournemouth showed Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro arguing with fans. Romero also apologised to supporters, saying: “We are responsible… we will keep facing up to it.” Richarlison responded with a hand-clapping emoji, and Porro wrote “Amen.”
Frank, under pressure, confirmed that Mohammed Kudus is not expected back from injury until April. When asked about being pictured holding an Arsenal-branded coffee cup at Bournemouth, Frank said: “It would be absolutely stupid of me to intentionally take an Arsenal cup.”
