Tottenham: Thomas Frank responds to Cristian Romero injury outburst as transfer plan revealed | OneFootball

Spurs captain slammed club’s squad building as injuries mount

The Spurs captain, who came off as he felt unwell during last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City, praised his teammates for salvaging a point from two goals down, but said it was “disgraceful” that Spurs “only had 11 players available” as they contend with a mounting injury list.

Frustrations vented: Cristian Romero

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On the Argentine’s latest outburst, Frank said he had dealt with the matter internally, but admitted he would not personally have voiced his frustrations in the way Romero did.

“I think if you want to know what he meant, you have to ask him, that's the right way to answer that question,” Frank said in his pre-match press conference.

“Cuti is a very passionate person and leaves everything on the pitch. He wants to win every time, and there can be an outburst. It is something we have dealt with and dealt with internally.

“There is a way of doing things. He has been very good at doing things. I wouldn't have done it. This is my message.

“The beauty of written text is that you can read into it and the only person who knows what it meant was Cuti.

“I think it shows that Cuti is extremely passionate. He wants to do everything he can with his team-mates to achieve great things.”

With Kevin Danso, Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven all late omissions from the squad against City through injury, Spurs have been left short of options across the pitch, and the timing of Romero’s post - shortly after the January transfer window closed had passed - felt pointed and deliberate as the club failed to make a first-team signing on Deadline Day.

Conor Gallagher was one of Spurs’ two January signings

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Conor Gallagher and Brazilian left-back Souza arrived earlier in the window, but injuries and the departure of Brennan Johnson meant it was ultimately a frustrating month in the transfer market for Spurs.

Frank maintained throughout January that the club would not be forced into snap decisions or short-term fixes.

On transfers, he added: "I think we signed Conor Gallagher, who is a quality player for the starting eleven. Of course, he needs to perform, and no one is promised any position.

“We signed a quality player and a young player for the future. I think if you compare to a lot of the other Premier League clubs, I think that's very good and where we are is okay. We tried to do more, but it was not possible for whatever reason.

“I've said it the whole time that it's very, very important that we take good decisions. It needs to be for the short term and the long term."