Igor Tudor urged to take Tottenham captaincy off Cristian Romero | Football | Sport
Sam Allardyce has criticised Cristian Romero and urged new Tottenham Hotspur manager Igor Tudor to strip him of the captaincy. The defender will miss Sunday’s north London derby as he is serving a four-match suspension.
The 27-year-old saw red during Spurs’ loss to Manchester United earlier this month. As it marked his second dismissal of the season, the Argentina international received an extended ban, sidelining him for Tudor’s crucial first match in charge against Arsenal. Romero has proven to be a vital figure for Tottenham since his move from Atalanta in 2021. The centre-half was handed the club’s captaincy at the beginning of the season. However, former Premier League manager Allardyce has argued that the defender should no longer have the armband due to his troublesome disciplinary record.
“He’s a typical player that doesn’t learn,” Allardyce said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast. “There’s so much talent but he has got so many flaws and he’s not eradicating the flaws. He is still doing the same things [from] when he first went to Tottenham. He’s still doing them now.
“So, one, you should strip him of the captaincy. And two, you say, ‘I want you to stay on your feet, I don’t want you to go to the ground and tackle anymore so stop it. I’m telling you now so do it and if you don’t do it, I might as well take you out of the side because you’re harming the results.’
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“He’s giving the manager a bad reputation for not being able to control him. So, Thomas Frank should have nailed him, which I thought he would but he didn’t.”
Romero’s dismissal against United occurred during former manager Thomas Frank’s penultimate match in charge. In 21 league games this term, the defender has accumulated eight yellow cards and been shown red twice.
Romero came under increased scrutiny after once again publicly criticising the club before his most recent sending off. Following Spurs’ draw with Manchester City in early February, Romero, who had been replaced due to illness, argued the team had been left to cope with a shortage of players.
Taking to Instagram, he said: “Great effort from all my teammates yesterday, they were incredible. I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn’t feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available – unbelievable but true and disgraceful.
“We’ll keep showing up and taking responsibility to turn this around, working hard and staying together. All that’s left is to thank all of you for being there and for always supporting us, the fans.”
New Spurs manager Tudor will be hoping to have Romero at his disposal for every remaining fixture this season once his suspension is served. Meanwhile, the club captain will be forced to watch from the sidelines as his teammates battle for victory against Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
