Former Tottenham ace labels Spurs star ‘world-class’ but there is a big ‘problem’

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Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara believes Cristian Romero is becoming a ‘problem’ for the Premier League giants with his indiscipline coming to the fore again during Sunday’s 4-1 hammering of Newcastle United. 

Now, we can maybe, maybe understand a defender letting his frustrations get the better of him with his team a couple of goals down and enduring a rather miserable afternoon. 

But Tottenham Hotspur were 4-0 up and cruising when Cristian Romero slammed into Callum Wilson during the second-half on Sunday, making his bone-crunching lunch all the more baffling. Romero somehow avoided another straight red card after returning from a three-game suspension just a few days earlier against West Ham.

For O’Hara, there can be no doubt about Romero’s qualities as a footballer. The World Cup winner, he argues, is a ‘world-class’ central defender when on the pitch. The problem is, Romero simply isn’t on the pitch enough, a hot-headed streak that would make Sergio Ramos seem laid back proving to be more than a hindrance than a help at times. 

Cristian Romero avoids another Tottenham suspension

“He should have got sent off! It’s a bad tackle on Callum Wilson. It’s a naughty tackle,” O’Hara, a member of Spurs’ last trophy-winning squad back in 2008, tells talkSPORT (12 December, 9.40am). 

“I just don’t understand what goes through his head! He’s a fantastic player. A world-class player. And I know he plays on the edge but you’ve just come back from a three-game suspension. If he gets sent off, he gets four games (banned)!

“I just think he needs to learn. (But) I don’t think he can. The way he tackles is just so aggressive, and he is a problem for is. He’s brilliant when he’s on the pitch. The problem is, he doesn’t spend enough time on it.” 

He is a problem’

Romero, had he been punished to the hilt against Newcastle, would have been ruled out for the remainder of Spurs’ games in 2023. Tottenham are already without the Argentine’s centre-back partner Micky van de Ven, slipping from top of the table to fifth during Romero’s post-Chelsea suspension.