Cristian Romero’s actions in the Tottenham dressing room following his red card against Manchester United have reportedly sparked a problem involving Arsenal.
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank has reiterated that Cristian Romero remains one of his most important players, after the defender apologised to his teammates following his second red card of the Premier League season.
The 27-year-old centre-back was shown a straight red card in the first half of Spurs’ clash with Manchester United for a heavy challenge on midfielder Casemiro. Romero’s dismissal left Tottenham to play more than an hour with ten men against a rejuvenated United side, and he will now serve a four-match suspension. As a result, he will miss upcoming fixtures against Newcastle United, Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
Although there were initial concerns over Casemiro’s condition after the tackle on his ankle, the Brazilian was able to continue playing.
Speaking after the match, Frank confirmed that Romero had apologised to the squad in the dressing room and stressed that he has no regrets about continuing with him as captain, despite the defender’s recent criticism of the club’s hierarchy on social media.
“There are no regrets about making him captain,” Frank said. “He apologised to his teammates in the changing room. He is one of our most important players. He never intends to get a red card — he tried to play the ball.
“You play with passion and aggression and there is a fine line. He has apologised and, for me, that is enough for now. There is nothing more to do.”
TNT Sports co-commentator Ally McCoist was critical of the challenge at the time, saying: “He definitely catches him with his studs on the ankle and it looks very painful. I don’t think he needs to follow through — it’s ridiculous. There’s a way to challenge for the ball without doing that. He’s letting his teammates down again.”
The Premier League’s official Match Centre account later confirmed that VAR had reviewed the incident and upheld the decision. A statement read: “The referee’s decision to issue a red card to Romero for serious foul play was checked and confirmed by VAR, with the challenge judged to have been made with excessive force and to have endangered an opponent.”
The match marked Romero’s 20th Premier League start of the season, with questions having been raised before kick-off over whether Frank would retain him as captain. Addressing those concerns, the Spurs boss added: “Romero is 27 years old. Will he still make mistakes as a leader? Yes. But does he also do a lot of good things? Yes.
