John Wenham: Cristian Romero now ‘costing’ Tottenham important games
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome John Wenham of Lilywhite Rose as our exclusive columnist. Each week, he’ll be giving his expert insight on the biggest talking points at Spurs…
John Wenham believes that in spite of his impressive defensive qualities, Cristian Romero is now “costing” Tottenham games, with his discipline issues becoming a “repeat problem.”
Romero is currently serving a three-match suspension after being sent off during Spurs’ 4-1 defeat at home against Chelsea on Monday 6 November.
The Argentine was shown a straight red during the first half for a challenge on international teammate Enzo Fernandez inside the penalty area, which provided Chelsea with a penalty and a significant route back into the game.
Destiny Udogie was later sent off as Spurs were eventually reduced to nine men. However, Wenham believes that it is Romero’s discipline which is becoming an issue.
Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, Wenham said: “Against Chelsea, Cristian Romero, and Destiny Udogie were both actually quite lucky that they weren’t sent off for earlier challenges.
“It seemed like the occasion was too much of a distraction, maybe it was on their mind going into the game, a big match against Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino coming back, they both lost their heads.
“For Romero in particular, it was very disappointing, because it was a straight red card.
“Udogie is new to the league, and we haven’t seen any of these issues before from him, so we can move on from that, but for Romero, it is four red cards now since he joined the club, more than any other player in the league.
“This is a repeat problem, and for however good he is compared to our other central defenders, he is now costing us.”
In other Tottenham news, Wenham believes that the international break has come at the right time for some of Spurs’ players.