Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank has hit back at suggestions that Cristian Romero is leading a player rebellion within the club, but remained silent on whether the Spurs captain has been fined for his comments on social media.
Shortly after the winter transfer window closed on Monday, Spurs captain Romero described the team’s lack of depth as “disgraceful”.
At Thursday’s news conference, Frank reiterated multiple times that “everything was handled internally,” including questions about whether he had been fined or disciplined.
Romero last posted on social media criticizing the club after the defeat to Bournemouth last month, in a now-edited Instagram post in which he appeared to accuse the club’s hierarchy of “lies”, but Frank admitted he had not disciplined his captain.
“The beauty of writing is that you can read it deeply,” Frank said of his social media posts. “And no one really knows (what he said) except for Cuti (Romero) or the people who talked to him. Everything is handled internally.”
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Sky Sports’ Michael Bridge talks about Romero’s comments on Instagram in which he aired his frustration at the club’s current predicament.
“It shows that Kuti is very passionate. He wants to win and he wants to do everything with his teammates to achieve great things. You have to ask him the next time you talk to him.”
“If you want to know what he meant, you have to ask him, and that is the correct way to take that question.
“Kuti is a very passionate personality and player and he will want to leave everything on the pitch. He is very ambitious and wants to win every time. Sometimes when that happens it can explode. That is something that we have naturally dealt with and we have dealt with internally.”
“There are many ways to do things. Kuti has worked very well for us this season and in the past. It’s 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, with Frank himself admitting he does not know what his future holds. However, the player was adamant that he was not leading a rebellion within the team and confirmed that he had not been stripped of his captaincy.
“I don’t know if I understand the question. I see a team that is fighting. The players are fighting.
“Leadership is a lot of different things. I’m 52 years old and I think I’m pretty good at leadership. Can I improve every day? Yes. Do I make mistakes? Probably not every day, but maybe every week.”
“Romero is 27 years old. As a leader, he will continue to make mistakes. Is he doing a lot of good things? Yes.
“I think sometimes someone can make multiple mistakes. We handled it internally.
“That’s just one person speaking and I don’t know if he’s speaking for all the players. That’s your perception. We don’t know that, but I think that’s fair.”
“Secondly, I don’t know if he reads it and thinks so. We have a team and a team 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 come back from a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2 with Manchester City despite having only “11 players available” according to the Spurs captain.
While these numbers are debatable, Spurs had Matthijs Tell, Wilson Odbert and Pape Sarr off the bench, making it clear that the club has at least 14 senior players available for this game.
One of Frank’s theories at the press conference was that Romero was unhappy at being forced to play against City despite being clearly unwell.
Romero was sent off at half-time against City due to illness, and Frank confirmed that the captain had been battling illness during preparations for last week’s Champions League game against Eintracht Frankfurt.
“Social media, I can’t get rid of it,” Frank said. “It’s what some people call the future, or whatever it is.
“One thing I know is that we definitely pay too much attention to social media. All of us. It seems like everything written on social media is true.
“Everything we accept, that’s the truth. It’s a challenge in general, across the board. That’s the way it is. We’re dealing with it.”
Asked if he was concerned that several Spurs players had liked his Instagram post, Frank said: “First of all, I don’t understand what a like means.
“The post has so many words in it. Is it something like, ‘Well done, you did amazingly well when you had to be sent off at half-time)’ (acts as a response to). If it’s something like that, it’s perfect.”
Is Frank happy with the transfer window?
Romero’s apparent attack on Spurs’ squad has meant that Frank has questioned whether he is satisfied with the transfer window having just ended.
Spurs brought in Conor Gallagher and young left-back Souza, but failed to sign Antoine Semenyo and Andy Robertson, who each joined Man City and remained at Liverpool.
“I think we have signed Conor Gallagher, who is a quality player in our starting XI,” Frank said. “Obviously no one’s position is guaranteed, but we have signed (in Sousa) a player of high quality and a young player with a bright future.
“Compared to other Premier League clubs, that’s very good. Where we are, that’s fine. We tried to do more but for some reason it wasn’t possible.”
“It is very important to stay calm and make the right decisions, both in the long and short term.
“Of course we looked at loan options, we looked at long-term options. We didn’t want to sign five players.”
Asked if he regretted moving Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace given that no attacking replacements were brought in, Frank said: “When you sell a player or sign a player there are a lot of moving parts in every decision.
“With a 3-4-3, there would be five players available (up front). Then Richie (Richarlison) could come back, so it would be six. Then Mo (Kudus) would come back, so it would be seven. So from that point of view, that’s fine.”
Frank then implored fans to wait two more periods to judge the club’s hierarchy.
“It’s a bit unfair to judge them based on the January transfer window. That’s all they have in charge,” he said.
“Judge them after the next period and the next period. I understand there’s a lot of scrutiny on the club. That’s fair. But let’s be fair.”
