Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou responds to Cristian Romero dig at the club after Arsenal defeat
Things haven’t been rosy around Tottenham Hotspur after a difficult start to the 2024/25 season.
Ange Postecoglou has received a lot of criticism from fans and pundits alike after back-to-back Premier League defeats to Newcastle United and Arsenal. Spurs were beaten 2-1 away at Newcastle before the international break followed by a 1-0 loss at the hands of bitterest rivals Arsenal in front of our fans last weekend.
Mikel Arteta’s side won a tight encounter thanks to a second-half header from Gabriel Magalhaes which came after the Brazil international had easily escaped the attentions of Spurs star Cristian Romero.
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The manner in which Cristian Romero defended for the Arsenal goal was worthy of criticism. And after the game, the 2022 World Cup winner took a sly dig by retweeting a post of a reliable South American journalist on his X account before deleting it to criticise the club’s decision not to arrange a private jet that would have seen him arrive back from international duty earlier.
Speaking in his pre-match conference ahead of Spurs’ third-round Carabao Cup tie away at Coventry City on Wednesday evening, Ange Postecoglou confirmed Romero was not rushed back to action on Sunday after his international duty exertions, and that the Argentinean defender made no complaints before the kick-off against the Gunners.
“No, it was mentioned to me [after] but it wasn’t mentioned to me before the game,” said Postecoglou. (h/t BBC)
“No-one reported anything other than the usual checks of people coming back from international duty, so prior to the game no-one said anything.”
Romero was partially culpable for Tottenham’s 1-0 home in the North London derby when he was easily shrugged aside by Gabriel, who powered home a second-half header. However, the South American centre-back supposedly believes that our club was also at blame for his poor display after they did not provide a private jet to return him from international duty.
Antics on social media coming from a World Cup winner and an experienced defender like Romero are simply laughable. After the derby day defeat, fans definitely don’t want to hear excuses from the manager and the players, and Romero’s dig at the club for his poor display was shocking.
As the team’s defensive lynchpin and one of the experienced members of Big Ange’s squad, the 26-year-old should set the standards right at the club and encourage the young talents to follow them. His actions after the game on X were just not right, especially in an era where such things don’t go unnoticed.
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That being said, Romero needs to dust himself down and focus on getting back to the version of himself after his early season struggles. He is a big player for our club and needs to act like one!
