Monday night’s defeat to Chelsea wasn’t the first time Cristian Romero let his team down, and it probably won’t be the last. So we wonder if Spurs are right to remain loyal to him.
From Tottenham’s perspective, the most irritating aspect of Cristian Romero’s red card against Chelsea was how predictable it was.
Romero is often praised for his aggressive, frontal approach; because you are always on the edge and – most of the time – playing just about within the absolute limits of the laws of the game.
But this is usually also recognized by the fact that he has a tendency to go too far; to do something stupid and rash; to cost his team dearly.
However, this season was supposed to be different. After being given joint vice-captaincy by Ange Postecoglou this summer, as part of the new manager’s all-new leadership group, alongside captain Son Heung-min and James Maddison, there was a more mature Romero taking his extra responsibility very seriously. would take.
Four games into the season, Romero had not committed a single foul — presumably a sign that a player who endured a frustrating 2022-23 season on the home front had finally matured. He had finished the previous season poorly on a personal level, with his 15 fouls and four yellow cards in his last eight appearances showing where his head was at as Spurs’ season came to a disappointing end.
It then took until the sixth game of the season for him to secure a booking, and even that only happened in the fiery atmosphere of a north London derby – one of the few occasions where it is considered more acceptable to secure bookings. Fans even enjoy a bit of petulance or a bit of gamesmanship on derby day. It’s all a bit of fun, isn’t it? As long as you don’t get sent away.
This is the problem with Romero. It never feels – even in that run of four games without conceding a free-kick – like he’s too far from hitting the self-destruct button. Trouble follows him wherever he goes.
In the first half of Tottenham’s third game of the season he got into what could have been a very dangerous tackle on Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo as he dribbled rather innocently around the edge of the penalty area. Romero jumped in, two feet in the air and managed to get the ball, but also got a really good handle on the man.
![Romero scissor tackle vs. Bournemouth](https://www.footymercato.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/is-cristian-romero-worth-the-trouble-for-tottenham-the-analyst.png)
Referee Tim Robinson saw nothing wrong with it and Spurs raced to the other end and almost scored a second goal. Looking back on that challenge, you can see why Robinson kept playing. Romero was able to hide behind the fact that he got a foot on the ball – which in this case is probably enough defense. But you could also understand Bournemouth’s anger that a free-kick was not given or that Semenyo felt aggrieved that such ‘scissor’ challenges were allowed.
Eventually, Romero’s luck ran out and the fouls and bookings crept back into his game, rendering that brief period without a foul allowed meaningless. Despite his new position of responsibility within the team, he is still pretty much the same old player.
Monday evening’s crazy match against Chelsea was a good example of this. Romero couldn’t resist the temptation of a derby day fight in front of a packed stadium.
Twenty minutes into a match that Spurs had started excellently, and already leading 1-0, he stormed onto the pitch after characteristically – here’s that front foot approach again – deliberately stepping out of the defense to direct a header into midfield to win.
![Romero wins a header against Chelsea](https://www.footymercato.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/is-cristian-romero-worth-the-trouble-for-tottenham-the-analyst-1.png)
He then chased his own header towards Thiago Silva and followed his backpass – not without a push to the Brazilian as he passed him – all the way to Robert Sánchez in goal. Romero was cheered on by around 60,000 adoring Spurs fans, who reveled in their centre-back wanting to win so badly that he ran across the length of the pitch to put pressure on the opposition goalkeeper.
![Romero fouls Thiago Silva](https://www.footymercato.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/is-cristian-romero-worth-the-trouble-for-tottenham-the-analyst-2.png)
But instead of just jogging back into position, Romero couldn’t let go. Just seconds later, after Silva got his revenge with a strong – and legal – shoulder-to-shoulder challenge against Romero, the Spurs centre-back, on the floor in the Chelsea half as they launched an attack, kicked out at Levi Colwill. Colwill had done nothing to Romero; he was simply the closest opponent at the time.
Then, in the same phase of play, with Romero lying on the grass, Raheem Sterling raced into the precise space Romero should have been defending, behind right-back Pedro Porro, to score.
But as has so often been the case for Romero, he got away with it. The VAR decided his kick at Colwill was not enough to earn a red, and Sterling’s goal was disallowed for a handball.
Romero wasn’t done there yet though and in the 28th minute he made a reckless and really quite dangerous challenge on international team-mate Enzo Fernández in his own penalty area. This time there was no escaping punishment and Romero received his marching orders. Chelsea scored the penalty and Spurs imploded. Run over undefeated.
It is not the first time that Romero has let his team down. And it’s not the first time his actions have cost his team money.
Since his Tottenham debut in August 2021, he has received more red cards in all competitions than any other Premier League player (four). He has now also conceded four penalties, a total of which only three players can tip, with Craig Dawson, Lewis Dunk and Wilfred Ndidi conceding five each.
![Cristian Romero fact](https://www.footymercato.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/is-cristian-romero-worth-the-trouble-for-tottenham-the-analyst-3.png)
His red card against AC Milan in the Champions League last 16 last season left Spurs – a goal behind on aggregate and chasing a return to the tie – with no chance of pulling through. His departure a few weeks earlier against Manchester City was late enough for his team to get a win, but with him suspended for the next match, Tottenham were mauled, eventually relegating Leicester City in embarrassing fashion 4–1 to lose.
Spurs have lost two, drawn one and won one of the four games in which he has given away a penalty. The win came at City, in a match where Spurs were 2–1 up when Romero was awarded a penalty scored by Riyad Mahrez, before Harry Kane won it in the 95th minute.
One problem with these numbers is that they don’t take into account the incidents Romero got away with, such as the kick against Colwill on Monday. There was also the silly hair-pulling of Marc Cucurella at Stamford Bridge in the opening game of last season, an act you still can’t believe he got away with.
Romero’s performances this season have seen his importance to the team continue to grow. He and Micky van de Ven team up at centre-back to form one of the Premier League’s best and most exciting defensive partnerships. Combining their speed, aggression and technical ability, they have been a large part of the reason Tottenham have started life under Postecoglou so well. Romero, who has attempted (811) and completed (748) more passes than any other Spurs player, has been integral to the smooth transition to a possession-based game under the Australian. He is a natural talent who gets the ball out of the defense.
![Cristian Romero touch card](https://www.footymercato.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/is-cristian-romero-worth-the-trouble-for-tottenham-the-analyst.jpg)
But everyone knew that Spurs lacked depth at that position. The reduction in quality if Romero or Van de Ven were missing is significant. Eric Dier – next in line at centre-back – had one more minute to play this season before being called up on Monday evening, giving an indication of how much Postecoglou relied on his first-choice pair.
It meant the Spurs manager was just one injury away from a situation he did everything he could to avoid. Van de Ven limped off against Chelsea with a serious-looking hamstring injury, meaning Spurs could actually do without Romero’s absence. The Argentine will miss games against Wolves, Aston Villa and Manchester City, while there is still no timeline for Van de Ven’s return, although it is difficult to see him playing again this year.
Spurs fans would have been confident they could get a result in at least two of the next three games that Romero will now miss, but with a makeshift defense Wolves and Villa will sense an opportunity. Wolves have recently taken points off Newcastle and City, while Villa are more than capable of causing Tottenham some problems, especially with Romero and Van de Ven out. You only have to look at how Liverpool struggled in 2020/21 to see how debilitating a centre-back crisis can be for a high-quality side.
![Depth of Tottenham's squad](https://www.footymercato.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/is-cristian-romero-worth-the-trouble-for-tottenham-the-analyst-4.png)
So do Tottenham need someone at the back that they can rely on a little more? His performances this season would have drawn comparisons with the Premier League’s best centre-backs. If Spurs want to challenge for honours, they need centre-backs who can rival Virgil van Dijk, William Saliba and Rúben Dias in terms of quality.
But Romero is still a long way from those three, especially when it comes to their reliability or discipline. While Romero has four red cards in 75 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, Van Dijk, Saliba and Dias have just one in 258 appearances for Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City respectively in the same time frame.
Romero receives a yellow card every 3.3 games on average, while Dias receives one every eight games, Saliba every 10.1 games and Van Dijk every 11.2 games. It’s no coincidence that these three defenders rarely choose to go to ground with a last-ditch tackle. Romero, meanwhile, gleefully takes every opportunity to sneak inside.
Spurs came into this season knowing that further reinforcements were needed at centre-back, and the current crisis has only deepened that need. But there is now an argument that any signing should be made with the intention of pushing Romero into a starting spot. He’s clearly still learning to keep his emotions in check, and it could be that the pressure of knowing there’s a player on the bench who will take his place if he lets his team down again could be the answer .
Or maybe he is simply incapable of changing, and it will only be a matter of time before he does something costly again.
If Spurs get another option in the squad that Postecoglou is keen to bring into the team, Romero could ultimately run out of opportunities.
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