Thomas Frank may be without Christian Romero for multiple games in the near future after Tottenham’s latest result.
Tottenham comfortably beat Brentford 2-0 on Saturday afternoon thanks to an inspired performance from Xavi Simons.
It was a much-needed three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the under-pressure Frank, who has been facing sack questions at Spurs in recent weeks.
For once, there wasn’t much for the Dane to worry about in the match, outside of one moment early in the game where the Tottenham captain Romero flew into a challenge from behind on Igor Thiago.
Romero gets seventh yellow card of the season vs Brentford
Romero led from the front at Newcastle in midweek as he scored both goals in a 2-2 draw at St. James’ Park and put in a solid performance in defence.
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He was one of the lone bright spots in securing that unlikely point, but then delivered one of the few negative incidents in a much-improved collective outing this weekend.
Romero was lucky not to be sent off for the foul on Thiago, ex-PGMOL boss Keith Hackett told Tottenham News, but the Argentine was booked by referee Rob Jones for a scissors-style challenge on the Brazilian from behind.
The yellow card was the Spurs captain’s seventh of the campaign, meaning he faces a two-game ban if he gets three more before the 32nd game under Premier League regulations, which is a full 17 fixtures away.
Frank will likely need to warn Romero to rein it in or face being without him for what might be a crucial two-game stretch down the line.
Thomas Frank avoids major sack decision
Frank isn’t exactly out of the woods after a horrible run of results through November but in isolation the win over Brentford was the sort of routine victory Tottenham should be expecting with relative regularity.
More important for the Dane is the context, as it avoids any awkward comparisons to Keith Andrews in his old job at Brentford, and it ends the long wait for another win at home.
The three points were well deserved in a way that the lone one probably wasn’t at Newcastle, but the Romero-inspired draw appears to have sparked some momentum.
That makes it all the more undesirable for the captain to be unavailable any time soon, but it has always been a risk-reward balance with him between his quality and his disciplinary record.
Spurs fans will know as well as anyone that three bookings in 17 games is more than possible for Romero, so Frank may need to prepare for when, not if, he is next suspended.