Cristian Romero would not have been sent off in Tottenham's 2-1 Premier League loss to Liverpool if referee John Brooks "did his job" properly, says Spurs manager Thomas Frank.
Tottenham were reduced to 10 men in the first half after a VAR intervention when Xavi Simons was dismissed for a foul on Virgil van Dijk.
However, the hosts fought back and reduced the deficit late on through substitute Richarlison.
Despite being a man down, Tottenham were well on top in stoppage time and chasing an equaliser when their captain Romero received a second yellow card for a petulant kick out at Ibrahima Konate.
Romero's first booking came for dissent in the aftermath of Liverpool's second goal, with the Argentine feeling Hugo Ekitike had pushed him in the back as he headed in.
"There is a massive mistake by John [Brooks] on the pitch. Two hands on the back by Ekitike," said Frank.
"I don't understand how he didn't see it. OK. Luckily we have VAR so they will bail you out when you need it, which they didn't. That was the second mistake.
"I think if you go back to that [second Liverpool goal] and the referee did his job, then I think it would not have been a first yellow [for Romero]. Is that fair to say?
"I have a player that is extremely passionate, and if you have a passionate player then you need to go to the line sometimes."
In a post on X, the Premier League match centre,, external said: "The referee's call of goal for Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR - with it deemed there was normal contact for an aerial challenge between Ekitike and Romero."
Former Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given agreed on Match of the Day: "I think John Brooks has got it right."
Spurs can take a number of positives from fighting back with a numerical disadvantage against last term's champions, however the result leaves Frank's side 13th in the table.
Tottenham's 11 home league defeats in 2025 are also their most in a calendar year - and the fact five of those have come under the Dane, who took over from Ange Postecoglou in the summer, will place further scrutiny over his reign.
However, there are also likely to be question marks over Romero's suitability as the club's captain.
The Argentine, who was appointed as Tottenham skipper by Frank in the summer after the departure of Son Heung-min to Los Angeles FC, has a chequered disciplinary record.
In 114 Premier League appearances the former Atalanta defender has collected 34 yellow cards and three red cards.
Tottenham, alongside Bournemouth, have the most yellow cards in the top flight this season with 42 - and 21% of those (nine) can be attributed to Romero.
He was also one of the players to be given their marching orders when Spurs were last reduced to nine players in a league match, against Chelsea in 2023.
And the context of his second yellow card against the Reds left former Tottenham and Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp bewildered.
"I think Hugo Ekitike's goal is a foul. I can't believe it's not given, A consequence of that is Cristian Romero runs after the referee and gets himself a yellow card which has an impact at the end of the game," Redknapp said on Sky Sports.
"What Romero did is what Romero does. To get involved right in front of the referee and kick out at someone right in front of the referee. If my four-year-old did that I would say 'what are you doing?'
"Konate leaves a bit on Romero first which is actually quite cute because he knows he is not going to get caught. But he [Romero] can't do that. It's ridiculous."
And former Tottenham goalkeeper Joe Hart called some of Spurs' behaviour in the defeat "wild".
"They put up a really good fight but there was so much ill discipline," he told Match of the Day. "You can't have that, you make it difficult for yourself.
"Xavi Simons has not gone out of his way to nail his fellow countryman but it is something so dangerous to do, absolutely a red card.
"They are fighting and scrapping for their lives, but from the moment Romero got that yellow card I felt another would come.
"Konate has just baited him and it is right in front of John Brooks - he has to give him a second yellow card.
"They just totally lost control. Richarlison after the game still not giving up, it all looked a bit wild out there."
In a post on Instagram, external, Simons apologised for his earlier attempted tackle on his Netherlands captain Van Dijk.
He wrote: "Mistakes happen. Virg is my captain, I would never intentionally hurt him or anyone. To my Spurs team-mates, my manager and the fans, I take responsibility, I'm really sorry."
While Frank conceded he had seen similar challenges to the one made by the attacking midfielder receive the same punishment, he suggested it was not worthy of a sending off.
"I don't like this [Simons' challenge] as a red card. I think the game is probably too big to say gone, but for me it's not reckless and it's not exceptional force," Frank added.
"He is chasing Van Dijk. He is trying to put pressure and then he changes direction. Unfortunately his foot is on Achilles.
"You can say 'ah, you need to be smarter, don't do it and all that' - but are we not allowed to have physical contact any more?
"The next thing on that is if he gets three games, which I don't understand, how can he get three games for something which is not reckless? That is absolutely wrong and we probably can't appeal it."
