Martin Keown believes Tottenham have a clear course of action to take with Cristian Romero.
Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat away to Man United means they are now winless in their last seven, but one thing it did do was deflect some of the attention on Thomas Frank, but not in a good way.
Instead, the spotlight is on Romero after his brainless red card at Old Trafford, which left Tottenham fighting an uphill battle against the most in-form team in the Premier League.
Romero will miss the next four games at the very least for Spurs, but Keown thinks something different should be in store for the Argentine.
Cristian Romero punishment could change Tottenham’s fortunes
Romero’s sending off against United was the sixth of his Tottenham career since joining in 2021, and while that may not sound too bad, it’s the highest number of red cards any player has received in the Premier League since his debut.
Not only that, but it was his second straight red of the season, having also received his marching orders in Tottenham’s defeat to Liverpool earlier in the campaign.
The Argentine is a quality player, but he is also becoming more and more of a liability, and with Tottenham potentially in a genuine relegation battle, they can’t afford to have that in their squad.
And as a result, Keown thinks there is only one course of action to take with the captain.
Via talkSPORT, he said: “If you want to change the culture at the football club, and there’s a serious problem with the culture.
“Maybe this is the one to say [Romero] doesn’t play for our football club again. We’re making a change. On the inside, his behaviour around the players is not good for the future generation, and therefore, big decisions have to be made around this player.“
Can Tottenham afford to freeze Romero out?
Very rarely will you see a club captain almost banished from the squad, but Romero has shown time and time again what will happen if they don’t.
He’s a walking red card that can cost you at any moment, and his stats from the current campaign aren’t anything to suggest he is the player to drag them out of their current predicament.
And certainly not enough to refuse to acknowledge the issue he is causing.
As demonstrated via his below Sofascore graphic, Spurs have won just one of their seven encounters with the other clubs in the big six when he has featured.
He averages 1.16 fouls per 90 in those games, and has already picked up two red cards and four yellows within them.
Romero is the type of player to thrive in a team performing well, but when the going gets tough, he has the reputation to lose his head and go on to cost his side, as he has several times already throughout his career in North London.
Losing him would mean losing quality at the back, but it may be for the best given the liability he has become.