Cristian Romero's Tottenham Hotspur captaincy questioned after ‘ridiculous’ red card in defeat to Manchester United

Cristian Romero's Tottenham Hotspur captaincy questioned after ‘ridiculous’ red card in defeat to Manchester United - ‘He’s killed the team today’

TNT Sports experts Ally McCoist and Joe Hart pulled no punches in their assessment of Cristian Romero’s red card against Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Argentina international was sent off for a reckless challenge on Casemiro and the hosts took advantage. At the time, McCoist described the tackle as “ridiculous”, while Hart later questioned whether he should be removed as Spurs captain.

Cristian Romero’s suitability as Tottenham Hotspur captain was questioned after he was shown a straight red card in the 2-0 defeat away to Manchester United in the Premier League.

Romero was sent off in the 29th minute for a crunching tackle on Casemiro with the contest finely poised at 0-0 and it proved costly. Nine minutes later Bryan Mbeumo gave United the lead and the hosts rarely looked troubled from there, with Bruno Fernandes wrapping up the three points with a fine finish late in the second half.

It was a sixth red card for Romero in all competitions since he joined Spurs in 2021 and it came after the Argentina international was critical of the club's board for an apparent lack of signings.

Unsurprisingly, his leadership qualities were called into question in the aftermath of the loss at Old Trafford.

"A good leader? I don’t know," TNT Sports expert Joe Hart said. "He must be from what we don’t see because Thomas Frank seems to stand by him no matter what. Even before the game, having put that statement out [criticising the board], ‘He’s my captain, he’s my leader, of course he plays.’

"I’m not in that dressing room but it’s Tottenham, it’s not just a random Sunday League team where they’ve just got to pick someone who’s the best player.

"These are established, full international players - people who have won things, European champions from last year. He’s got people he can pick from, and he seems to think Cristian Romero is the main man for it, so what that says about the Tottenham squad, I don’t know."

Pushed on whether Spurs boss Thomas Frank should remove the armband from Romero, Hart added: "That’s a horrible conversation. With Tottenham at the moment, Thomas Frank is having to talk about everything he doesn’t want to talk about.

"It’s the headaches you don’t need as a manager and he’s got them constantly. Of course, he’s going to have to think about it, he’s missing him for four games, he’s gone against the club in what he’s said.

"He’s killed the team today in the first half an hour, just going that little bit too far in how he plays."

On commentary at the time, Ally McCoist was similarly critical of Romero.

"He definitely catches studs on ankle. It does look really painful. I don’t think he needs to follow through, I think it’s ridiculous," McCoist said.

"There’s a way he can challenge for the ball and win the ball. It’s madness. I said at the start I think [Micky] van de Ven is a calming influence, how wrong have I got it?

"He’s just letting his team-mates down again, he doesn’t need to do that."

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The defeat means Spurs are without a win in their past seven Premier League fixtures and could yet find themselves in trouble from the sides below with a tough run of games ahead.

With the squad already stretched thin, losing Romero is a setback the north London side could really do without.

But in spite of the current situation facing the club and the mounting pressure on him, Frank was pleased with the "resilience" shown by his players and also revealed Romero had apologised to his team-mates.

"After the red card [I was] very proud of the players. The resilience, staying in the game, mentality, still be a threat at times to try and create something," Frank told TNT Sports.

"I think the last 60 minutes playing with 10 men, they put everything into it, very proud of them, very proud of our fans for travelling in numbers and you could hear them loudly through the game."

Asked if he thought his side would have conceded if the game had remained 11 v 11, Frank added: "No because that was the area they could exploit. It can always happen but that was the area that got more exposed.

"There’s no intention to make a red, he clearly goes for the ball. Unfortunately for him, the way the rule is, it’s then a red.

"Cristian apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room."

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