Cristian Romero thinks he should be at Barcelona – but he’s a liability and Thomas Frank should make an example of him
Cristian Romero is a ‘prime example of how egos have overtaken Tottenham’ – he’s a player who constantly makes mistakes.
That is the explosive opinion of talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook, who called the Spurs captain a ‘liability’ who’s not fit to lead.
Crook set his sights on Romero while speaking on the latest episode of the new series, Fiery Friday, only on the talkSPORT Daily podcast.
The Argentine has been vocal in his criticism of the Tottenham hierarchy this season, where he accused the board of ‘lies’ last month.
And earlier this week, the World Cup winner took another thinly-veiled swipe at the club over their ‘disgraceful’ squad depth.
Romero shared his latest frustrations on Instagram the day after he featured in the first half of Spurs’ 2-2 draw against Manchester City.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Crook said: “This was going to be my hot take even before the Instagram post after the transfer window closed on Monday night, because I was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
“Tottenham, absolutely dreadful in the first half against Manchester City – didn’t lay a glove on them. Two-nil down. You expected City to go on and win by five or six.
“Thomas Frank takes off his skipper, Cristian Romero, at halftime because he was allegedly suffering from illness.
“I’m still not entirely convinced that that was the reason that something didn’t go on in that dressing room.
“But my hot take was going to be Tottenham are better off without their captain, Cristian Romero, because you saw it in the second half.
“He went to a back four, having tried a back three in the first against City, and they were just much more competitive.”
‘Romero is becoming a real issue’
Following Tottenham’s 3-2 loss to Bournemouth in January, Romero questioned why members of Spurs’ hierarchy stay silent in bad times.
“I think Romero is becoming a real issue for Thomas Frank,” Crook added on the talkSPORT Daily Podcast ahead of Spurs’ next game, against Manchester United live on talkSPORT on 7 February at 12:30pm.
“He had that outburst, I think, after the Bournemouth game earlier in the season. Thomas Frank let him off for that one.
“He said that young leaders make mistakes. Well, he’s done it again, hasn’t he, Romero? He went two-footed on the board on Monday night…
“This totally undermines Thomas Frank,” he continued. “This looks like a manager who has no control over his captain.
“And the fact his teammates jumped on the post. Conor Gallagher has been there for five minutes. He liked the Instagram post.
“What on earth is going on there? This is a manager who clearly hasn’t got control of the dressing room, and he needs to make an example out of his captain now.”
Frank breaks silence over Romero’s future
The Spurs boss confirmed his centre-back will remain club captain during his press conference ahead of the clash against Manchester United, live and exclusively on talkSPORT this Saturday.
The former Brentford gaffer was also adamant that Romero has not been leading a revolt within the Lilywhites squad.
However, referencing the player’s ‘disgrace’ comments, Crook argued that the 27-year-old needs to look at himself first.
Crook: Romero a ‘liability and not fit to lead’
He said: “It’s not just about what he does off the pitch, but that rashness that he shows on social media is there for all to see on the field as well.
“This is a player who constantly makes mistakes, constantly goes diving into tackles, at best gets himself booked, at worst gets himself sent off. He is a liability and not fit to lead this football club.
“And by the way, Cristian, when you talk about a disgrace, it’s a disgrace that you’ve only managed to lead your team to two victories in 15 Premier League games.
“It’s a disgrace that you finished 17th in the Premier League last season.
“From what I’m told by people who know this dressing room, a big issue that Tottenham have got is too many of their players are so overinflated in their opinion of themselves.
“They think they should be playing for Real Madrid and Barcelona.
“And Cristian Romero is a prime example of how egos have overtaken that club.”
An alternative stance
The panel on the latest episode of talkSPORT’s Inside Spurs podcast have also discussed their thoughts on Romero.
Alongside host Majestic, Sonny Snelling said: “He’s said all the right things, but should the club captain be saying it?
“It’s getting a bit telling that he’s called out the board, calling out the injury situation and transfer window.
“He’s well in his right, but this statement and rumours of him leaving, it’s not wanted at the moment and it adds more fuel to the fire.”
But Abbi Summers strongly disagreed with that take, saying: “I think that it’s fine for him to call out the board.
“What’s he saying that we don’t say? If a manager does it, they probably get sacked. But I have no issue with the captain of Tottenham calling out the board and their shortcomings.”
“Romero is a World Cup winner,” Summers added. “Do I think that he’s within his rights to call out the ambitions of the club? Yeah I do, because we call it out at fans.”
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