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Cristian Romero has been criticised by former England goalkeeper Ben Foster after he left the pitch in tears during Tottenham's catastrophic 1-0 defeat against Sunderland.

The Argentine defender, 27, hobbled off the pitch midway through the second half with a suspected knee injury after colliding with his own goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

The defeat left Spurs in the relegation zone with six games remaining, after West Ham's emphatic 4–0 win over Wolves on Friday night.

Roberto De Zerbi, who was appointed last week after Tottenham sacked interim boss Igor Tudor following a dismal run of form, will now be concerned about the possibility of losing his most experienced defender for the rest of the season, ahead of MRI scans on Monday.

Foster, who played for the likes of Manchester United, West Brom and Watford during his playing career, has questioned whether Romero's tears sent the wrong message to his team-mates, with Spurs already 1-0 behind after Nordi Mukiele's deflected goal fired Sunderland in front on the hour mark.

'Romero's probably the one player who has got a bit of character in that team, a bit of grit and determination,' the former Premier League goalkeeper said on Match of the Day.

'If I was one of his team-mates there, I want him to be walking off the pitch grabbing everybody, getting everybody firing.

'They've still got 25 minutes there until full-time. But the tears, I feel, send the wrong message. As a captain you shouldn't be doing that.'

The threat of relegation has tightened on Tottenham following Sunday's poor defeat, which spans a run of 14 matches without a win for the north London side.

Still winless in 2026, De Zerbi's side are now two points adrift of safety with just six games to go.

The Italian takes on his old side Brighton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next weekend before Spurs travel to bottom side Wolves at the end of April.

The struggling club then take on Aston Villa, Leeds, Chelsea and Everton to round out the season.

After Sunday's defeat, Romero's centre-half partner Micky van de Ven told Sky Sports: 'Every manager has their own opinion of the game and Roberto wants us to play out more from the back. That's what he asked.

'He wants us to play with confidence and that is what we need to build but we don't have a long time left. We need to do it now. You don't want to look at the other results and just need to win. You can't say you don't look at the other team.

'Six games left to get as many points as possible. There is pressure now as we are in the relegation zone but we need to make sure we get out of this situation.'

Roberto De Zerbi fears Tottenham are struggling to halt their slide because players are haunted by the spectre of relegation.

Spurs were beaten 1-0 at Sunderland in De Zerbi’s first game in charge, a result which leaves them in the Premier League’s relegation zone with six games to play.

They have not won for 14 league games and De Zerbi nodded in agreement when asked if the fear of relegation was inhibiting his players.

'Yes, I think so,' he said. 'The players are all good guys and suffering for this moment. They are not happy when they lose. They are not happy to see Tottenham at the bottom of the table.

'During the week they play better because their heads are more clear, during the game it is different for sure.

'I know them as people and players and because of that, I am positive. We will not win the game just because we are Tottenham. You cannot win the game on paper. You need to win by fighting on the pitch. You need to score a goal.

'They are human, and they are suffering maybe too much and altogether we have to stay close, to be positive, to work, to improve in the details in the football, but to be better in the mentality.

'My job is to help them. We have quality to win one game and that is the target now, because one win and we can see everything is different.'

Nordi Mukiele scored Sunderland’s goal with the help of a deflection from Micky van de Ven. Spurs lost captain Cristian Romero, who left the pitch in tears after he was injured in a collision with his own goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

De Zerbi thought it was a knee injury but refused to elaborate. A report from Romero's native Argentina suggested that he has some instability in his knee and that physios would test for a medial collateral ligament injury.

'Maybe yes knee but I don’t want to say nothing until we know more,' said the Spurs boss. 'We have to see in the next days. I hope for us not important problem because he is a crucial player. A good guy, top player, big personality and we need him to finish the season.'

Whether or not Roberto De Zerbi required a brief example of the self-destructive tendencies that have plunged Tottenham into relegation peril he got one.

First the goal scored by Sunderland. It started with Nordi Mukiele collecting the ball on the right, advancing on an angled run towards goal, meeting with very little resistance and opting to have a swing from distance with his left foot.

Mukiele’s effort clipped Micky van de Ven to leave goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky marooned in mid dive to his left as the ball spun and looped into the other side of the goal.

Then, the next Sunderland attack ended with Kinsky involved in a high-speed collision with Cristian Romero which forced the Spurs captain off injured and he was in floods of tears as he trudged down the tunnel.

The goalkeeper soldiered on with a bandaged head, a heroic effort considering the ignominy of his previous appearance, and yet unable to do anything about the result. Spurs seldom looked likely to fight their way back into it once behind. Just one of their plentiful worrying traits.

Another defeat and with six to play, De Zerbi’s team are now cut adrift in the relegation zone, two points behind West Ham. Now winless in 14 Premier League games, a dismal run stretching back to December.

In case they were unsure, the Sunderland choir serenaded them through the last knockings of 11 minutes of added time. “You’re going down, you’re going down,” they sang. So much for another fresh start.

If there was a positive to take it was that Kinsky had coped well with his test of character. He was solid in the first half from composed early touches on the ball to a strong save to block a shot by Brian Brobbey just before half time.

Spurs went straight back to the goalkeeper from kick-off, which might have been designed to soothe any nerves on his first appearance since the debacle at Atletico Madrid, when he was replaced after only 17 minutes having made two costly mistakes with the ball at his feet and his team trailing 3-0.

Here, his first touches were to control the ball and launch it long towards Richarlison on the left. The long diagonal towards Richarlison on the left wing had been a feature towards the end of the second season under Ange Postecoglou.

Although, this is not what most had in mind when De Zerbi claimed he wanted to bring back the thrill of Ange Ball.

Spurs made a fluent opening and the game’s first saves were made at the other end by Robin Roefs, back after a month out, to deny Pedro Porro and Richarlison, but Sunderland soon assumed control of the first half.

The home team could be forgiven if they had put their feet up. Safe in mid-table having completed a double over Newcastle there is little left for them to achieve in their first season back in the Premier League, but they dominated the first half.

Granit Xhaka and Noah Sidiki controlled the ebb and flow of possession (strength and experience?) against a Spurs midfield with Archie Gray and Conor Gallagher deep and Lucas Bergvall advanced in the No 10 role.

This was the most interesting part of De Zerbi’s first team selection, featuring five changes from the last team picked by interim boss Igor Tudor, against Nottingham Forest.

This back four is the first choice back four with Destiny Udogie fit again, and with all of the natural wingers injured De Zerbi went with three established forwards. Balancing the two ends of the team has been the problem all season.

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS

Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Roefs 6.5; Mukiele 7 (Hume 82), O’Nien 7, Alderete 7.5, Reinildo 6.5; Xhaka 8, Sadiki 7.5; Diarra 6.5, Rigg 6 (Talbi 82), Le Fee 6; Brobbey 7.5 (Isidor 90+8).

Subs not used: Ellborg, Geertruida, Cirkin, J Jones, H Jones, Mayenda, Isidor

Goal: Mukiele 61

Booked: Brobbey, Rigg, Hume

Manager: Regis Le Bris 6.5

Spurs (4-2-3-1): Kinsky 7; Porro 5.5, Romero 6 (Danso 70, 6), Van de Ven 6, Udogie 6; Gray 5 (Palhinha 62, 6), Gallagher 5 (Simons 85); Kolo Muani 5.5, Bergvall 5 (Sarr 62, 5), Richarlison 5 (Tel 62, 6); Solanke 5.

Subs not used: Austin, Dragusin, Bissouma, Spence

Bookings: Romero, Van de Ven, Porro

Manager: Roberto De Zerbi 5.5

Ref: Rob Jones 5

Att: 47,010

When they erred towards protecting the defence and they lost cohesion going forward. When they packed in the technical quality, they often lack physical presence in the centre of the pitch and are vulnerable at the back.

As they were at times here. De Zerbi had substitutes ready to come on when his team conceded in the 61st minute and made three changes before the restart, with Joao Palhinha and Pape Matar Sarr sent on to bolster the midfield.

Brobbey posed a threat throughout. The Spurs starting centre halves were booked for fouls on him before half time, and Sunderland’s Dutch centre forward picked up a yellow card in comical fashion as he held off Porro while protecting the ball.

Porro flung himself onto the floor like a child claiming he had taken an arm in the face. It wasn’t the only wrong decision of the day by referee Rob Jones.

He also awarded Spurs a penalty midway through the first half for a foul by Luke O’Nien on Randal Kolo Muani which was overturned after a VAR intervention. O’Nien was rash to slide in but clearly took the ball as Kolo Muani jostled with Omar Alderete.

Spurs were bright again at the start of the second half. Richarlison flickered and the contest more even until they were rocked by the cruel misfortune of the deflected goal, quickly followed by the collision between Kinsky and Romero.

Kevin Danso came on for his captain but Sunderland managed the game out well to move onto 46 points. Spurs wallow on 30 and next for De Zerbi, a reunion with Brighton on Saturday.

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In what could prove to be one of the most pivotal league fixtures of the season for Tottenham Hotspur, the relegation-threatened side travel to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland.

With points now at a premium, the stakes could hardly be higher for Spurs. Adding further intrigue, the match marks Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of the north London club.

Will it herald the beginning of a successful new era, or simply more heartbreak under fresh leadership? Only time will tell.

De Zerbi's first game as Spurs manager is expected to end in defeat when looking at the betting lines, with the visitors priced as 8/5 favourites according to Sky Bet.

Conversely, hosts Sunderland are marginal outsiders at 13/8, while a draw is valued at 11/5 odds.

It is worth noting that both of these sides had to settle for a point in the reverse fixture, with 1-1 the result in north London.

In addition to the head-to-head odds outlined above, read on as we take a look at the Goalscorers market on offer with Sky Bet.

At the time of writing, Sunderland's Wilson Isidor is the shortest-priced in the market, with the forward 7/4 to score anytime and 5/1 to score first.

Meanwhile, Isidor's teammate Brian Brobbey is second-favourite, with him priced at 2/1 to score anytime and 6/1 to bag the opener.

Brobbey has netted six goals for Sunderland this season, including in the reverse fixture.

Finally, for those anticipating Tottenham to get on the scoresheet first, Spurs' Richarlison is the best-backed for the visitors at 6/1. He is also 9/4 to score anytime.

Richarlison is Tottenham's top goalscorer in the Premier League this season with nine goals.

Roberto De Zerbi will set Conor Gallagher the challenge of recapturing his prime Chelsea form to help Tottenham clear of relegation.

Gallagher’s career has lost its way since he left Stamford Bridge two years ago and his £55million move to Spurs from Atletico Madrid in January has not gone to plan for either the club or the England midfielder.

The 26-year-old hoped his return to London would enhance his World Cup ambitions but arrived with Spurs descending deeper into crisis, made little impact in his early appearances and was dropped by interim boss Igor Tudor.

His last England appearance was in June when he collected his 22nd cap in a defeat in a friendly against Senegal.

'For Gallagher it has not been easy,' said new boss De Zerbi, who made it a priority to restore the battered morale of the squad he inherited from Tudor.

'He left Chelsea after I don’t know how many seasons, went to Atletico Madrid, and now in Tottenham, in this moment for Tottenham.

'He was a leader in Chelsea, and now he has to adapt to a new club, to new teammates, to a new stadium, to a new everything. I have to help him to put as a target the Gallagher he was at Chelsea.'

De Zerbi was in charge at Brighton when they tried and failed to sign Gallagher from Chelsea in the summer of 2023.

They had sold midfielders Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister and he was seen as a good fit for the high-energy style De Zerbi will now try to impose on Spurs.

The 46-year-old Italian believes there are players already in the squad to fit his style of play.

They include Gallagher and others such as Xavi Simons, another £55m investment, who signed from Leipzig in August but has rarely been played to his strengths under Thomas Frank or Tudor.

'The DNA of these players, of this club, is to keep the ball and to try to score,' said De Zerbi ahead of his first game as Spurs boss, at Sunderland, tomorrow.

Spurs, plunged into the relegation zone by West Ham’s win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday, are still leading race for Liverpool left back Andy Robertson who has confirmed he will leave Anfield when his contract expires at the end of the season.

They were close to signing 32-year-old Robertson in January when Frank was Spurs boss and keen to add experience and leadership to the dressing room.

The deal fell through because Liverpool suffered injuries and were unable to find replacements.

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Compared to the frenzy of his last game on the touchline, a 5-0 thrashing with Marseille at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the Parc des Princes, Tottenham’s training ground must have seemed like a sea of tranquility for Roberto De Zerbi.

Not only its high-security fences, trim manicured lines and tasteful borders, but 10 days of peace to find his bearings, get to know key personnel as his players filtered back from international duty.

Then came the meetings. 'A lot of meetings,' said De Zerbi, who has met individually with all his players in his office as well as holding team meetings between training sessions as he tried to quickly instil his key messages into his new squad. 'Just football,' he explained. 'Just meeting the players, organising, transferring and finding the best way to transfer my ideas. Two or three. Not too many ideas that I want to see on the pitch on Sunday.'

De Zerbi is 10 days into the job and yet to play a game, a factor he referenced yesterday in his first press conference when asked why he accepted the job this time and not in February when he left Marseille on the same day Spurs sacked Thomas Frank.

'For me it was important to have time,' said De Zerbi. 'Not too much time but 10 days, more than one week and I thought it could be important to understand the problems.'

Much has been made of his five-year contract, understood to come with a £12million annual salary, and his power to influence recruitment targets but the 46-year-old Italian insists he is not in north London for the money. 'You can find the right answer in my history, because I left a lot of money in my life,' said De Zerbi. 'The money never changed my focus on my work.'

Ten days gave him time but De Zerbi, a self-confessed football obsessive who is living in the Lodge, the on-site accommodation at the training ground, enabling him to work long hours, has been careful to limit the instructions he has passed on.

All the players were back last Friday apart from Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro who had been given an extra two days off by interim boss Igor Tudor, a privilege honoured by De Zerbi. With Romero and Porro back on Monday, De Zerbi’s early focus has been on confidence.

He wants his players to display courage on the ball, keep possession and play in an attacking style. He spoke about recapturing the attacking flair Spurs had in their first season under Ange Postecoglou, and believes they still have a squad to play in this style.

His first fight, however, is to stay up. To do this he needs to squeeze everything from the players available. So, his messages both in public and private have been to remind players of their talent.

Some needed building up again after the psychological rigours of this season under a barrage of criticism having failed to win a Premier League game in the first 100 days of 2026. Although De Zerbi claimed to be pleasantly surprised by the spirit inside the camp and detected clear improvements after his first week in charge.

'They are working very, very well,' he added. 'It’s not normal after we didn’t win too many games in 2025 and we haven’t won any game so far in 2026 so you imagine the atmosphere inside the dressing room or the training ground, but it's not like this. I saw players with energy, with passion when we were in the meetings speaking about football, about the two or three principles. They came with the right focus, so I’m positive for that.'

Tottenham’s senior stars have been in the front line for criticism and De Zerbi made a point of hailing his captain Romero and his central defensive partner Micky van de Ven, both of whom have been heavily linked with summer moves away, as ‘crucial’ to his plans.

He called Xavi Simons ‘a big talent’ and applauded the ‘attitude’ and versatility of Richarlison. He purred about the prospect of reviving Randal Kolo Muani to his pre-Spurs levels and how he had tried to sign Mathys Tel when he was at Marseille.

While at Brighton, De Zerbi was keen to sign both Conor Gallagher and Mohamed Kudus, although Kudus now faces an extended absence after suffering a setback in training and might not play again this season.

Training sessions have been slightly longer than they were under Frank or Tudor but always with the ball and limited to one per day. There were no double sessions with everyone aware of the cumulative physical strain at this stage of the season.

They were given a day off on Wednesday when De Zerbi had an English lesson to boost his linguistics before he faced the live cameras yesterday and called in at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to meet those working on site.

He made it clear at Brighton that his coaching principles came second to his principles of life, and that treating people with respect and making human connections was vital if he expected them to listen to his tactical advice.

Most coaches would say the same. It is about communicating. Early feedback filtering out of his training sessions from the players has been positive.

De Zerbi is a vocal coach who likes to be on the grass at the heart of training sessions, which is just as well because he will start with a streamlined coaching staff and only two or the seven who worked with him at Brighton and then Marseille. Perhaps there will be scope for this to evolve if relegation is avoided.

The true test of another new era and his attempts to restore confidence however comes on the pitch in the heat of battle. Spurs have gone under when things have gone against them in recent times.

Under Tudor, they collapsed after the red card for Van de Ven at home against Crystal Palace. And against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of a last-16 Champions League tie, when beset by defensive errors, two made by stand-in goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and one by Van de Ven to go three down inside quarter of an hour.

The young Czech was substituted after 17 minutes in Madrid’s Metropolitano but Guglielmo Vicario had hernia surgery during the international break and Kinsky looks set for a recall at Sunderland.

'I have confidence,' said De Zerbi when asked if he had spoken to Kinsky about Madrid. 'He has to be strong, but he is strong enough to show what he can do. Not more, not less. His qualities are enough to play at Tottenham. The other players believe in him. He has to stay calm and confident. He is playing at Tottenham, so has to be stronger than the mistakes, and to move on.'

Nobody will face a greater test of their character inside the Stadium of Light. And yet they will all come under scrutiny, including De Zerbi as he promises to take Spurs back to the top.

He is renowned for his volatility, and the serious business for him starts in Sunderland. Not in the sea of tranquility near Enfield.

Roberto De Zerbi has promised to restore Tottenham’s pride, to stay for years, to take them to the top - and to thrill fans with the sort of football they played under Ange Postecoglou.

De Zerbi, whose first game as Spurs boss will be at Sunderland on Sunday, has signed a five-year contract without a relegation escape clause.

'In my plan for sure there is the idea to stay for a long time,' said the 46-year-old Italian as he field questions for the first time in his new role.

'To try to put Tottenham - and I’m not speaking about the titles because it’s not the right moment now - but to put Tottenham to stay in the first position in the Premier League because everything is here to reach that level.'

De Zerbi wants to play attacking football and believes the players are available to do that successfully.

'I want to keep the ball,' he said. 'I want to see again the Tottenham I watched with Postecoglou. In my second season in Brighton, there was Postecoglou here with a lot of these players and it was one of the best teams in terms of quality of play.

'With Pedro Porro, with Destiny Udogie, with Micky van de Ven, with Cristian Romero, with this squad, and I would like to see it again.

'The DNA of this club, of this squad is to find the goal, to score!'

The most urgent priority for Spurs however is to escape relegation. They are winless in 13 Premier League games, a dismal run stretching back to December and are onto their third boss of the season after sacking Thomas Frank in February and Igor Tudor six weeks later.

'I do not think I am better than Thomas Frank or Igor Tudor, because I consider them very good coaches,' said De Zerbi. 'I try to bring my style, myself, my character, my personality, my passion, to help the players first to show their qualities, because they have a lot of qualities.

'And then to achieve our target, because the most important part now is our target. Now I have to work. Now we have to make points.'

Over to you, Tottenham Hotspur. Do you have what it takes to get out of this? West Ham are here for the fight. Are you?

Genuine belief is spreading around the London Stadium that the Great Escape is on. There’s a unity, too, one thought lost for good. Boos and protests have filled this ground for much of the season yet, as the scoreboard ticked towards the final 15 minutes, with the score at 3-0, the home supporters rose to their feet as one: ‘Stand up, if you love West!’

Under Nuno Espirito Santo, they are coming together right when they need it.

West Ham were seven points adrift when they lost here to Nottingham Forest at the start of January. Tottenham sat four places above them with 13 points between them.

Now, for the first time since August 2015, Spurs will end a day inside the bottom three. And how fitting it was that it was a former Arsenal man in Konstantinos Mavropanos who scored twice to put them there.

West Ham will escape it for the first time since March when their point at Man City lifted them to safety, if only for a day. How long will this stay last?

If the Hammers are to survive, how vindicating it will feel for Nuno to send down either Spurs or Nottingham Forest, two clubs that believed they would be better off without him.

‘Anything can happen,’ declared Nuno in a pre-match video montage that played out over the big screens before kick-off. ‘It’s going to be a fight.’

It sure is, and they showed they are here for the scrap, but it still took a while for his players to roll up their sleeves. There was little of that buzz or frenzy or atmosphere of the end of that remarkable FA Cup tie that played out over three hours here on Sunday when West Ham fought back from two goals down in stoppage time to take Leeds into extra-time.

West Ham were ominously slow and tepid as Wolves threw the first punches. Angel Gomes fizzed an inviting ball in front of goal and only a desperate Kyle Walker-Peters clearance denied Hugo Bueno an early tap-in before namesake Santiago Bueno rasped one over the bar from distance. Yerson Mosquera nodded another chance wide while Adam Armstrong forced a save from Mads Hermansen with a header of his own from a long throw.

Wolves were, for the majority of the first-half at least, the better side. But when you have a player of Jarrod Bowen’s quality in your side, you’re never completely out of the pub brawl even if you’re not the first through the door.

During these recent difficult times, the question of whether Bowen is the kind of Kevin Nolan grab-you-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck captain West Ham need has been raised. It’s perhaps that lack of main character energy that will see him miss out on a place in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad to wingers who consistently score and set up far fewer goals than he does.

And yet, as he so often does, he quietly goes about being the difference when West Ham need him. It was his link-up with Mateus Fernandes that slipped in Crysencio Summerville for his side’s first real chance only for him to blast his effort over the bar.

Summerville’s return from injury will be crucial for the run-in, having scored seven goals in 11 games before a calf complaint saw him miss the last three winless games, but even he had to shake some rust off.

It was Bowen who fired straight at Jose Sa when the ball fell to him in the box midway through the first half and, again, when he got on to the end of Mavropanos’s header but could only prod a deflected effort at the keeper.

And, so, it was Bowen again, who curled in the quality cross just before half-time to pick out the central defender and open the scoring and the corner at the death for Mavropanos to volley home his second.

How much of an upgrade for Nuno it was having Mavropanos back in the starting line-up in place of Max Kilman, who gave away one penalty against Leeds, should have given away two, and got booed by his own supporters whenever he touched the ball.

The goal brought West Ham to life. Bowen, clearly not done, drove down the wing early in the second-half, cut past Ladislav Krejci on to his left foot and rasped a bending shot against the woodwork, as he did twice against Leeds in the Cup.

Workhorse Pablo nearly made it two before the break after being slipped through on the counter only to be denied by a fine low save before slipping in fellow astute January signing Castellanos for the second. It was Bowen, of course, who played him in for the third just 99 seconds later.

Both of his shots, the second deflected, crawled over the line. When it’s all said and done, will West Ham do the same?

Roberto De Zerbi will attempt to keep Tottenham in the Premier League without several of his usual coaching team.

Only two of De Zerbi’s seven key staff will join him at Spurs for the last seven games of this season.

Those two are fitness coach Marcattilio Marcattilii, who has worked with him for more 10 years since they were together at Foggia, and senior development phase coach Marcello Quinto, a coach who joined him at Brighton.

Others including Andrea Maldera, who was his assistant manager at Brighton and Marseille, and Enrico Venturelli, a familiar figure during their time at Brighton where his roles included helping De Zerbi with translation, will not join him at Spurs for the rest of this season.

Bruno Saltor, who joined Spurs to assist interim boss Igor Tudor in February, will continue as an assistant coach.

Former Brighton defender Saltor left the Amex Stadium before De Zerbi’s arrival and worked with Graham Potter at Chelsea and West Ham.

Goalkeeping coach Fabian Otte, set-piece coach Andreas Georgson and individual development coach Cameroon Campbell, all appointed last summer under Thomas Frank, will continue in their roles along with Stuart Lewis and Dean Brill.

De Zerbi, who signed a five-year contract with no relegation escape, will take charge of his first Spurs game at Sunderland on Sunday.