Cristian Romero comments: 'Disgraceful' that Tottenham had '11 players available' against Man City, says Spurs captain
Cristian Romero, who played against Manchester City despite being ill, has called it "unbelievable but true and disgraceful" that Tottenham Hotspur had only "11 players available" for the game; Thomas Frank's injury list at Spurs continues to increase
Tuesday 3 February 2026 14:41, UK
Tottenham captain Cristian Romero has described it as "disgraceful" that Spurs had only 11 players available for their game against Manchester City.
Thomas Frank is under pressure at Tottenham with the team on a run of six games without a win in the Premier League and languishing down in 14th in the table. But they came from two down against City on Sunday to salvage a 2-2 draw in front of their fans.
Romero was forced off at half-time through illness, having struggled through away to Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek, and the Argentina international's comments on Instagram appear to reflect his frustration at the club's current predicament.
"Great effort from all my teammates yesterday, they were incredible," Romero posted on Monday.
"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."
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It is the second time in a few weeks that Romero has aired his frustrations on social media. After Tottenham's 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth last month, Romero appeared to blast the club's hierarchy for "lies" in a post that he later edited.
It originally read: "At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don't - as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies."
The words "to tell a few lies" were later removed, and Frank defended Romero for his "mistake".
Why have Spurs been left so short?
Tottenham have more players currently injured than any other team in the Premier League, with 13 absentees at present - many of them long term.
James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski have been unavailable all season, while Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Bergvall, Richarlison, Ben Davies, Kevin Danso and Pedro Porro are also out.
With minor concerns over Djed Spence, Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke too, Frank faces more selection dilemmas ahead of the visit to Manchester United on Saturday.
Tottenham have made two first-team additions in this window, having brought in Conor Gallagher from Atletico Madrid and young Brazilian left-back Souza from Santos. There was interest in Antoine Semenyo but the player opted to join Manchester City instead.
It is understood the club's position is that better options are likely to become available in the summer, when it plans to invest heavily.
'It's not what Spurs wanted'
Sky Sports News reporter Michael Bridge:
"It's not what Spurs wanted.
"It is literally minutes after the window and they will be aware supporters will be unhappy after there wasn't much business done in January.
"They wanted to do more and we know they did all they could to sign Antoine Semenyo. They also tried to sign Andy Robertson and they were confident they were going to get that deal done, only for Liverpool to change their mind after the game against Bournemouth.
"They brought in Conor Gallagher and Souza, but the fans wanted more. And did Cristian Romero want more?
"He mentioned that only 11 players were available in his post but for some balance and context, against Man City, 15 players were available.
"There are people saying that there is potential for this message to have been lost in translation. That's not for Spurs to say, it's down to Romero or his agent, or whoever posts on his social media.
"However, the fact it was done in English suggests to me that I don't think it was lost in translation. It's yet another post from him and there are players liking it.
"There is so much to go at with this. But it is not what Tottenham wanted the minute after the end of the transfer window. Was he criticial of the spending? Was he critical of the squad depth? Or was he just frustrated with the amount of injuries?
"Let's face it, it is a frustrating time for Spurs, at the moment."
