Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero has been urged to “just shut up and play football,” with one pundit claiming manager Thomas Frank should strip him of the captaincy.

Romero vented his frustration over a lack of squad depthfollowing Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Sunday.

Romero’s Instagram rant sparks controversy at Tottenham

He wrote on Instagram: ‘Great effort from all my team-mates yesterday… 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.’

It is not the first time the Argentina international has spoken out against the club’s hierarchy, and his latest outburst has sparked transfer speculation, linking him with a move to Atletico Madrid.

Spursboss Thomas Frank admitted this week that he is unsure if Romero will remain at the club next season.

“That’s a question I have no idea about [whether Romero will be a Spurs player come July],” Frank told reporters.

“Right now, he is the captain, he has a long-term contract, and we signed a new contract with him.”

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Agbonlahor to Romero: ‘Just shut up and play football’

Romero has been heavily criticised for his “disrespectful” Instagram post, with former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor telling him to focus on his own performances and helping Spurs climb from 14th in the Premier League table.

Agbonlahor told talkSPORT: “You won’t see players like Van de Ven like it [the post]. It’s just disrespectful. How about you look at your own performances?

“I rate Romero. I do rate him as a defender. But you haven’t had the best of seasonsm you cost your side on numerous occasions with poor defending. Just shut up and play football.

“Leave that to the manager to speak to the board about signings. It’s none of your Business. Yeah, fans will like it. Would you see an Arsenal captain speak like that?”

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As Frank noted, Romero signed a new contract last August, keeping him at the north London club until 2029.

Frank also described Romero as “ambitious,” a claim that talkSPORTfootball expert Alex Crook scoffed at.

“One of the things Thomas Frank said in that clip we just played is that Romero is ambitious,” Crook said. “He signed the contract with Tottenham. If you are ambitious, you don’t do that. You back yourself to go and play for a big club.

“You’re part of the team that finished 17th in the Premier League last year.”

Why Romero should be stripped of Spurs captaincy

Crook added that Romero should be stripped of the captaincy as punishment for his social media rants.

“He isn’t that good a defender,” he continued. “I don’t think he’s that good of a character, and I think he should have been stripped of the captaincy. This is not how a captain of a Premier League football club should be behaving.

“He’s rash on the pitch. He gets too many bookings. He gets too many red cards. He gets caught out of position too often, and he’s clearly overly emotional off the pitch.

“You use the word ego there, speaking of people who know what goes on in that Tottenham dressing room – there are too many egos.

“There are too many players there who feel they should be playing for far bigger clubs than Tottenham.”

Crook concluded: “It’s nonsense and you’re right, the fans will love it. The fans loved it when the players were getting involved with Ollie Watkins after you dumped about them out of the FA Cup.

“It’s all fake. Do your talking on the pitch, not off it.”

Spurs told to ‘go and beat Man Utd’ amid winless run

Agbonlahor again urged Romero to focus on turning Spurs’ poor form around.

“But when you’re winless in six Premier League games, maybe some of these players who are liking posts, Romero himself speaking out concentrate on getting back to back wins,” he said.

“This weekend,?go and put in performance. Go and beat Manchester United.”

The former Premier League striker added: “I look at some of the players now. [Dominic] Solanke, it’s been great for him to come back and score four in his nine appearances season since his injury, but other players, do you’re talking on the pitch.

“Romero, I’d love to play against him, because if the ball comes into your feet, he’s going to come, he’s going to come and try and win it at every opportunity. A little one, two, you’re in behind him.

“Good defender, but wants to win every ball, which you can’t as a centre-half.”

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