{"id":244931,"date":"2026-05-24T04:21:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/until-now-spurs-bosss-backhanded-defence-of-wayward-skippers-shock-relegation-call\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T04:21:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T04:21:00","slug":"until-now-spurs-bosss-backhanded-defence-of-wayward-skippers-shock-relegation-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/24\/until-now-spurs-bosss-backhanded-defence-of-wayward-skippers-shock-relegation-call\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Until now…\u2019: Spurs boss\u2019s backhanded defence of wayward skipper\u2019s shock relegation call"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi has leapt to the defence of skipper Christian Romero, who has opted to miss his team\u2019s crucial clash against Everton on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Tottenham are a slim chance of being relegated for the first time since 1977, currently sitting two points ahead of London rivals West Ham with one match to play in the season.<\/p>\n

A win will guarantee Spurs remain, while a draw will also do the job \u2014 but Romero won\u2019t be there to watch his team\u2019s crucial clash, instead opting to travel to Argentina to watch his boyhood club.<\/p>\n

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Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Romero will be in attendance Belgrano\u2019s clash with River Plate in a league playoff final, and De Zerbi was certain his leave was approved by medical staff.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old has been sidelined for the last month after suffering an MCL injury, but has been met with a wave of criticism regarding his peculiar decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe spoke with the medical staff, together they decided to go to Argentina to complete the rehab with the Argentinian medical staff,\u201d the head coach said to The Guardian.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke last week and he always wanted to stay with us. The injury is already an injury, and we have to accept it.<\/p>\n

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Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur won\u2019t attend their crucial final home game.<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not stupid, if I understand there is any player, or some player who thinks for himself before the club, I can\u2019t be the same Roberto. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut with Cuti Romero, I can\u2019t say nothing, because with me, in my time, he has been correct, in the beginning, until now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to club legend Glen Hoddle\u2019sa claim that Romero\u2019s call \u201csums his selfishness up\u201d, De Zerbi explained that his star man can\u2019t influence the result of his side\u2019s Everton clash.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision was with the medical staff and I think he can change nothing if Romero is in the stadium or not. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd finally, I have no time to lose energy, to lose thinking about other things. We have to be focused just on the game, and I think we have the players good enough to achieve our target.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes not all leaders are the same. Ben Davies spoke with me, and he asked to stay today to work with us, and tomorrow we sleep in the hotel, and he wants to stay with the team, the teammates. <\/p>\n

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Riley McGree in doubt for World Cup | 01:30<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut Romero is preparing for the World Cup with his injury, and for me nothing changed. And then, after tomorrow, we are going to think everything that is for the best future of Tottenham.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only a Spurs loss and a West Ham win would mean Tottenham drop to the English Championship. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi has leapt to the defence of skipper Christian Romero, who has opted to miss his team\u2019s crucial clash against Everton on Monday morning. Tottenham are a slim chance of being relegated for the first time since 1977, currently sitting two points ahead of London rivals West Ham with one match […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":244932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-244931","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}