Cristian Romero’s injury blow added to Tottenham’s woes as Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of the club ended in a 1-0 defeat.
After a nasty collision with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, the Argentine left the pitch in tears with a suspected knee problem, raising fears of a long-term injury.
Those fears were quickly confirmed as widespread reports confirmed Romero would be out for 5-8 weeks with a knee injury.
He is expected to be fit for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for Argentina but isn’t expected to play for Tottenham again this season.
And now, with his permanent captain set to miss the run-in, De Zerbi spoke briefly about who he wants his whole Tottenham squad to step up.
De Zerbi yet to decide Tottenham captain
Usually, in Romero’s absence, Micky van de Ven wears the captain’s armband.
The Dutchman is the obvious choice to captain Tottenham against Brighton, but De Zerbi feels he hasn’t made a decision yet as he has bigger problems to deal with.
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“Listen, I have to decide, but I didn’t decide yet. I had other, more important problems to find a solution,” said the Italian in his pre-match conference.
“I would like all players to be a captain. We have to give everyone the responsibility for this situation.”
De Zerbi also spoke about the different kinds of leaders he has at Tottenham, name-dropping the likes of James Maddison, Dominic Solanke, Van de Ven, Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Bigger fish to fry at the moment
As De Zerbi rightly said, no one associated with the club should spend even one minute thinking about trivial stuff like the captain’s armband.
In fact, it would make sense to just give it to Van de Ven as he has deputised for Romero so far, so a change at this stage of the season would make unnecessary headlines.
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Tottenham need to respond as a unit against Brighton as their winless run has gone on for too long now. They are already two points below West Ham United, making the game against Brighton a must-win.
It goes without saying that they need a win, but the absolute bare minimum for tomorrow is for their players to put in a fighting display in front of their home fans.
