Tottenham ‘liability’ Cristian Romero leaves BBC Sport pundit conflicted over unwanted ‘guarantee’
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…
Cristian Romero is simply a “liability” for Tottenham now because of the suspensions he is certain to keep receiving with the way that he plays, says Paul Robinson.
The World Cup winner was shown a straight red in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea on 6 November and missed the next three games (no wins) before immediately getting booked in both of his first two games back, and was lucky not to be sent off again in the second one against Newcastle for a challenge on Callum Wilson.
Former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood says he holds his breath every time the 25-year-old makes a challenge currently, as he criticised the defender and Yves Bissouma for their lack of discipline.
Robinson agrees that the Argentine may have to address that part of his game, although he is conflicted as to whether it would compromise what makes him such an important player for Tottenham.
The BBC Sport pundit exclusively told Tottenham News: “Listen, that’s the word, he’s a liability. Because it’s every week.
“You know that if you have a bet on Romero getting a yellow card every week by the end of the season you will make a profit, absolutely guaranteed.
“That’s one way of looking at it, because if it’s this week or next week or the week after you’re getting at least one in three and it’s a suspension coming at some point.
“That’s a part of his game that he probably does have to address but it’s a tightrope to walk because you don’t want to take that out of his game, that’s why he is so good, that’s why he’s got that edge, that character, that personality.
“There’s not enough of that in the Tottenham team over recent years, the steel, and that from a centre-half, the aggression, the way that he plays, it’s very close to the line the whole time.
“And he is going to step over the line because that’s how he is, but there are certain times in games where he does have to control it.
“You look at when he got sent off in the Chelsea game, there was one incident I can recall before his red, definitely, that he could have had a red anyway.
“He probably should have been booked by that point, and guaranteed if you put a pound on him every week to get booked you’ll have a profit at the end of the season.”
It’s all very well Romero being the stand-out at the back for Ange Postecoglou because if he is sitting in the stands it then becomes completely obsolete.
The very best players manage to balance their edge with the control to ensure they only cross the line rarely, and if he was able to do so he would be a huge asset to Spurs.
He is still relatively young for a centre-back so there is time for him to develop that, but if he fails to curb the rash impulses that get him into trouble and repeatedly drops his teammates in a hole there could come a point where the club are forced to consider a replacement.
In other Tottenham News, Gary Neville was blown away by what one Spurs star did that was “so, so good”.