Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has refuted claims that Christian Romero is leading a player revolt at the club, but was coy about whether the Spurs captain has been fined for comments he posted on social media.
Shortly after the winter transfer window closed on Monday, Spurs captain Romero described the squad’s lack of depth as “disgraceful”.
During Thursday’s news conference, Frank reiterated several times that “everything was handled internally,” including when asked whether he had been fined or disciplined.
when Romero’s last social media post was critical of the club.Following last month’s loss to Bournemouth, in a now-edited Instagram post, Frank confirmed he had not disciplined his captain.
“The beauty of written text is that you can read a lot of it,” Frank said of social media posts. “And no one really knows (what he means) except Cuti (Romero) or the people who talk to him. Everything is handled internally.
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Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge discussed Romero’s comments on Instagram, expressing his frustration with the club’s current predicament.
“It shows that Cuti is very passionate. He wants to win and do everything he can with his teammates to achieve great things. You should ask him next time you talk to him.
“If you want to know what he means, you have to ask him. That’s the right way to take that question.
“Cuti is a very passionate character and player who wants to leave everything on the pitch. He is very ambitious and wants to win every time. Sometimes that can lead to explosions. Of course, it is something we have dealt with and have dealt with internally.
“There are many ways to do things. Cuti has been very good for us this season and last season and it is very important to recognize that.
“I wouldn’t have done that. That’s my message.”
Romero has been linked with a move away from Tottenham and Frank even admitted he had no idea what the defender’s future would hold. However, he was adamant that the player had not led the revolt within the squad and confirmed he had not been stripped of his captaincy.
“I don’t know if I understand the question. I see a team fighting. The players are fighting.
“Leadership is a lot of things. I’m 52 years old and I think I’m pretty good at leadership. Can I get better every day? Yes. Do I make mistakes? Maybe not every day, but maybe every week.
“Romero is 27 years old. He will still make mistakes as a leader. Does he do a lot of good things? Yes.
“I think sometimes someone might make more than one mistake, and we dealt with that internally.
“One person is speaking. We don’t know if he speaks on behalf of all the players. That’s your perception. We don’t know that. And I think that’s fair.”
“Secondly, we don’t know if he thinks that when he reads the text. We have a team and a squad that can compete.”
Frank: We pay too much attention to social media.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Romero praised his side’s ability to draw 2-2 against Manchester City after coming from 2-0 down despite only having “11 players”, according to the Spurs captain.
Those numbers are debatable. Spurs brought on Mathys Tel, Wilson Odobert and Pape Sarr from the bench, clearly indicating that the club has at least 14 senior players available to play.
One theory put forward by Frank in his press conference was that Romero was frustrated at having to play against City despite being clearly ill.
Romero was sent off with an illness at half-time of the City game, and Frank admitted his captain was struggling with an illness during the previous Champions League tie against Eintracht Frankfurt.
“You can’t get rid of social media,” Frank said. “That is what some people call the future.
“One thing I know is that we all definitely pay too much attention to social media. We all feel like everything written on social media is the truth.
“Everything we take: That’s the truth. It’s a challenge across the board. That’s the way it is. We deal with it.”
Asked if he was concerned that some Spurs players had liked his Instagram post, Frank replied: “First of all, we don’t know what ‘like’ means.
“There are too many words in the post. Is it like ‘good job guys, you did a great job when I left at halftime’ (action in response). If so, that’s perfect.”
Is Frank happy with the transfer window?
Romero’s apparent attack on Spurs’ team depth meant Frank was asked whether he was happy the transfer window had passed.
Tottenham signed Conor Gallagher and young left-back Souza, but failed to sign Antoine Semenho and Andy Robertson, who joined Manchester City and remained at Liverpool.
“I think we have signed Conor Gallagher who is a good player for the starting XI,” Frank said. “Of course, no one has been promised any position, but we have signed (in Souza) a great player and a young player for the future.
“Compared to other Premier League clubs, it’s very good. We’re good for where we are. We tried to do more but for some reason it wasn’t possible.
“It is very important to remain calm and make the right decisions, whether long-term or short-term.
“Of course we looked at loan options, we looked at long-term options. It wasn’t a case where we wanted to sign five players.”
Asked if he regretted bringing Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace, Frank said: “There are a lot of moving parts to every decision when you sell or sign a player.
“If you have a 3-4-3, you have five players (frontline) available. Then Richy (Richarlison) can come back, so you have six. Then Mo (Kudus) comes back, so you have seven. From that perspective, it’s OK.
Frank then asked fans to wait for another two windows to judge the club’s hierarchy.
“It’s a bit unfair to judge them on the January transfer window, that’s the only window they’ve been in charge of,” he said.
“Make your judgment next transfer window and after the next transfer window. I know there is a lot of scrutiny on the club, that’s fair, but let’s be fair.”
