Tottenham have confirmed that Cristian Romero has been appointed club captain by Thomas Frank following Son Heung-min’s move to LAFC.
“I think he has all the right qualities,” Frank said of the 27-year-old. “He leads from his behaviour on the pitch, driving the team forward in every way, and outside the pitch he’s always pushing the team.”
“I’m very happy to be [the] first captain of the club,” said the Argentine in his first English interview since joining Spurs in 2021.
“It’s amazing for me and it’s a big responsibility.”
The World Cup winner has split opinion during his four years in English football, so has Frank made the right choice?
A natural leader
By Oliver Young-Myles
Rival fans (and some pundits) may scoff at the appointment given Romero’s reputation for rashness, but the Argentine was the logical choice.
Of the three captains appointed by Ange Postecoglou in 2023, Romero is the only one available to Frank, with Son leaving and James Maddison suffering an ACL rupture. Guglielmo Vicario was also part of Postecoglou’s leadership group.
There isn’t an obvious alternative, and Romero proved his leadership qualities as Spurs won the Europa League, marshalling them through the latter stages and the final itself while Son battled injury.
Romero skippered the side in Spurs’ last four matches – including in the final against Manchester United until Son’s introduction – and his performances were integral to them winning it. He was named Uefa’s Player of the Match in Bilbao after a dominant defensive display.
That European run showed Romero at his very best. He was laser-focused, imperious in duels and relished the extra responsibility. Having excelled in finals for Argentina, he has now done so for Spurs too.
Romero is a better footballer than he is given credit for. He reads the game well and is an accomplished line-breaking passer. And while he is mostly renowned for his aggression, he has learned to control it better.
Since the start of 2023-24, when Romero was named vice-captain, he has been cautioned 12 times and sent off once in 50 Spurs games – a defeat to Chelsea in November 2023 – averaging a card every 415 minutes.
In his first two seasons, Romero received 21 yellows and three reds in 64 matches, averaging a card every 229 minutes.
That devilish streak is undoubtedly undiminished, just showcased more subtly. Harry Maguire was incensed by his antics in the Europa League final. Plenty of others have and will fall foul of Romero’s trash-talking and mastery of the dark arts.
Rather than ill-discipline, Romero’s fitness record and contract situation are the main question marks against his suitability as captain.
Romero simply hasn’t played often enough for Spurs, missing 66 games out of 205 matches due to injury and suspension. His deal, meanwhile, expires in two years, and he was linked with Atletico Madrid this summer.
After making him their new figurehead, Spurs need to tie Romero down to fresh terms next.
Not captaincy material
By James Gray
Maybe I’m too traditional, too stuck in the mud, too old school. Maybe I’m just old.
But to use an old cliche, I just don’t see Cristian Romero as captaincy material.
Firebrand doesn’t really cover the particular stylings of the 27-year-old. Loose cannon might be closer to the mark for a centre-back whose tactical style on the pitch is as forthright as his character.
If he were a cricketer, he would be Andre Nel, a South African fast bowler so angry and confrontational that he said he had an alter ego on the pitch called Gunther who “lives in the mountains in Germany. When he was a kid, there was a lack of oxygen going to his brain, so something went wrong in his mind”.
If you managed to explain to Argentinian Romero what cricket was, he might recognise something in Nel’s matchday madness.
You only need to watch the “Cristian Romero Losing Control Moments” video on YouTube as prima facie evidence.
In light of that edit, it seems rather implausible that Romero has only been sent off four times in more than 120 games for Spurs. He looks like he in turn has been watching videos of Roy Keane – shaved head, Alf-Inge Haaland horror tackle era – in order to master the “scream at a possibly injured player on the ground”, something he dishes out on a near-weekly basis.
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He also seems to get dragged into battle with Marc Cucurella, the undisputed Premier League king of shithousery, whenever they play each other. Who wins? Invariably Cucurella, culminating in a particularly unedifying hair-pulling incident.
Is that really the man you want at the front of the queue to discuss decisions with the referee? Wouldn’t you rather have Dejan Kulusevski? Or, when he plays, Ben Davies? Even Rodrigo Bentancur or Micky van de Ven might be more skilled diplomats.
Maybe Frank is merely promoting the existing vice-captain for fear of upsetting the dressing room, maybe he is hoping the extra responsibility will force Romero to toe the line more effectively.
Or maybe it is a sign of the Spurs squad he has inherited that he believes the rampaging Romero to be the best option they’ve got.
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